Mulcair’s austerity pledge and phony middle class rhetoric don’t add up

August 26, 2015

NDP candidate: cuts are “inevitable”

LONDON, ON – Thomas Mulcair’s balanced budget austerity pledge means the NDP won’t help the economy or middle class families, said Liberals today.

Mulcair promised Tuesday “our first budget will be a balanced budget,” guaranteeing he won’t deliver on the NDP’s multi-billion spending commitments he pretends to support, like child care, public transit, or new police officers.

“Thomas Mulcair’s phony rhetoric is a mirage. He’s siding with Harper in favour of austerity instead of investment, jobs, and growth,” said Liberal candidate for University—Rosedale, Chrystia Freeland.

“Thomas Mulcair talks a lot about looking out for average Canadians, but his only path to a balanced budget so quickly is massive cuts and backing away from the NDP’s spending promises,” said Ms. Freeland. “The choice in this election is between jobs and growth or austerity and cuts. Thomas Mulcair made the wrong choice.”

The Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed in July that Canada is already facing a billion-dollar deficit, meaning austerity and cuts are the only path to balance next year. Even a combination of the NDP’s job-killing corporate tax hike and cancelling income splitting won’t be enough to fill Mulcair’s budget hole in just one year.

When asked yesterday on CBC whether “some stuff has to go” from the budget, Mulcair’s hand-picked financial advisor, Eglinton—Lawrence NDP candidate, Andrew Thomson, answered “I think that is inevitable.” (CBC Power & Politics, August 25, 2015.)

“Thomas Mulcair is willing to say whatever’s convenient, whenever it’s convenient. That’s not leadership,” said Liberal candidate for Elgin—Middlesex—London, Lori Baldwin-Sands. “After ten years under Stephen Harper, only Justin Trudeau has a plan for real change to grow the economy, help the middle class, and bring back fairness.”