By Jeff Henson

budget 2022

Warkentin finds no positives in budget for Peace Region residents

Apr 8, 2022 | 12:13 PM

The Member of Parliament for Grande Prairie-Mackenzie says the federal budget was a missed opportunity by the government to take advantage of opportunities presented to them to promote and further Alberta’s oil and gas sector.

Chris Warkentin says the war in Ukraine was a chance for Canada to again become a trusted global security partner, but that the Liberals continue to fall short.

“Countries around the world are turning off their desire for Russian oil and energy products. This creates a massive opportunity for us as Canadians to fill that void,” he explained.

“I thought there would have been a significant blueprint in the budget to say that we are going to help the world’s needs, and that was simply not there.”

Warkentin was also disappointed that the government did nothing to change the course on several agriculture-related policies that he feels make it more difficult for farmers to get their products to market.

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“There is a massive need for us to get our products to market. What we have seen though is many policies and positions by the federal government that have made it even more difficult for us to get our products to market.”

“Not only when it comes to the inputs that it takes for us to get our products grown. The increase of the carbon tax. The contemplation that the government is considering reducing the amount of fertilizer that farmers will be able to use,” he added.

“Those types of things are what the government needs to change course on and demonstrate that they are going to put forward a framework that will allow our farmers to be competitive with international markets.”

When asked about the new dental care program announced as part of the budget, Warkentin tells EverythingGP that there was very little clarity as to who will be eligible for it.

“What we have seen in the past is when these programs are announced, it sounds good, there are many Canadians that believe that they will be benefactors of those programs,” Warkentin stated. “But of course, when the rubber meets the road, we have seen time and time again where most Canadians will not find themselves able to access those types of programs.”

The federal government also announced $80 million in new defence spending over the next five years.

Warkentin says his party has been pushing the government to increase spending on the military but adds this announcement did not go far enough.

Overall, Warkentin says the budget was a missed opportunity for generations to come.

“I believe that we are really at a position where the federal government could have gotten a handle on their spending, which we know when governments do not get a handle on their spending, out of control spending leads to out of control pries for consumers because of the inflationary effect, which inevitably leads to an increase in taxes for Canadians.”

Warkentin adds the government also missed opportunities to cut red tape and reduce regulations for businesses.