The Trudeau government has been busy announcing new budgetary commitments over the last few weeks.
Finally on Tuesday, Canadians will be able to see details on how Ottawa plans to pay for everything.
Housing and affordability are big items that are top of mind across the country and especially here in Hamilton.
Local politicians and stakeholders hope to see real action on those files as soon as possible.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was at the forefront of many announcements, which included protections for renters, loans to help with apartment construction and home building innovations like modular construction.
Efforts that many hope become a reality in Hamilton, a city that see’s property values climbing along with taxes as well. Here’s some reaction from a few local voices earlier today.
“We have a municipality here, in fact municipalities across the country, who are seeing record property tax increases, that’s because of successive budgets of downloading,” Hamilton MP Matthew Green said.
“We need to reverse that trend, take the pressure off everyday working people, and start to target and go after the big corporations that are making record profits.”
“The carbon tax only goes so far. Our emissions are still not lowering as fast as other G7 countries and in fact, per capita, Canada is the worst among them,” Ian Borsuk from Environment Hamilton said.
So, there is a lot more investment that needs to be made, and ultimately at the end of the day, there could be alot more money going to those public services if we stop subsidizing private oil extraction.
“As our community gets more expensive, people are moving out of our community, and that’s impacting businesses because we’re losing people who can help support jobs, and we’re losing talent that can help us grow as a community. So, any supports to address the affordable housing crisis quickly and effectively is so important,” Greg Dunnett from the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will present the budget in the House of Commons Tuesday at 4 p.m.