Kenora MP Eric Melillo says he’s not getting too excited over the federal governments $8.9 billion plan to tackle inflation.
It was released last Thursday by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Melillo says, “There’s no new money in the announcement from Minister Freeland. It was already allocated for in the budget. In terms of dealing with inflation, it goes back to this governments continued belief that you can spend your way out of inflation.”
He notes, “The reality the Parliamentary Budget Officer has told us that government spending is one of the leading causes of the inflation that we are experiencing. That’s why we’ve been calling on the government to provide a more prudent fiscal plan to rein in spending and actually get inflation under control for Canadians.”
Melillo adds the recent commitment contained, “Money that was already accounted for in the budget and when the government announced their budget they indicated that inflation wasn’t a concern. Now their saying that the measures that they brought forward in that budget will address inflation. It just doesn’t make sense frankly.”
The measures that make up the Canada Affordability Plan, which was already announced by the feds in this year’s federal budget, include:
-Boosting the Canada Workers Benefit by $1.7 billion in 2022.
-Increasing Old Age Security by 10 per cent, providing up to $766 in new supports.
-Providing a one-time Housing Affordability Payment of $500 for low-income Canadians.
-Bringing child care costs to $10 per day by 2025.
-Free dental coverage for Canadians earning less than $90,000 a year.
-Increasing benefits indexed to inflation, such as the Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Child Benefit and the GST credit.
-In the budget, Freeland said she has also committed to a thorough review of government spending after the country spent an “extraordinary amount” of money on pandemic recovery, totalling more than $300 billion.
Here is the weekly update from Kenora MP Eric Melillo:
Dear Constituents,
Recently I attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto. I had a great time meeting many of those who are supporting and helping innovate Canada’s mining industry. Northwestern Ontario has tremendous mining opportunities, which provide many benefits to our region and it was great to visit the Northern Ontario Mining Showcase to discuss these opportunities with local stakeholders including Red Lake councillors Warren Badiuk and Jamie Kristoff and Chief Bill Petiquan of Wabauskang. We should all be proud of Canada’s world class mining industry that provides economic opportunities across the country.
Ending Vaccine Mandates
For months my colleagues and I have been advocating for the government to end all federal COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, this week the Liberal government finally moved to suspend some federal vaccine mandates. This means there is no longer a vaccine requirement for travel within Canada.
I welcome this news, however there are still many restrictions in place for Canadians who are planning to travel internationally and return to Canada, those taking cruises and the vaccine requirement remains in place for all foreigners trying to visit Canada. The government needs to remove these restrictions as well.
My colleagues and I will continue to advocate for all federal COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates to be removed, not suspended.
Passport Clinic
I am hosting a passport clinic on June 28th from 12:00-6:00pm at the Kenora Legion (300 McClellan Avenue).
This is a great opportunity for those looking to apply or renew a passport. My staff and I will be there to assist with filling out the applications forms and will mail in your application. Further, there will be a photographer onsite who for a fee of $20.00 will be able to take official passport photos for those who are in need.
If you plan to attend the clinic please ensure you bring the required identification, and secondary identification along with your references and guarantors. The passport clinic is free of charge, but please make sure to bring either a credit card, money order or certified cheque made payable to the Receiver General for Canada to pay the Passport Canada application fee. As a reminder passport fees are, $120 Adult 5-year, $160 Adult 10-year and $57 Child 0-15 years of age.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call me at 807-468-2170.
For those who are not able to attend, my office is readily available to assist with any passport needs. Please reach out and we will assist.
Working for You
As always, if there is anything my office can assist you with, please call me at 807-223-2182 (Dryden) or 807-468-2170 (Kenora) or email me at eric.melillo@parl.gc.ca.
Sincerely,
Eric Melillo
Member of Parliament, Kenora Riding
