For Immediate Release:
May 28, 2009
OTTAWA – Mississauga – Streetsville Member of Parliament, Bonnie Crombie, joined Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff’s demand of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to fire Finance Minister Jim Flaherty for his mismanagement of the government’s finances and failure to get economic stimulus funding out the door.
Minister Flaherty’s January 2009 budget explicitly stated, “Measures to support the economy must begin within the next 120 days to be most effective.” Yet recent media reports confirm that little infrastructure money has flowed, more Canadians are unemployed, and the budget deficit has reached structural proportions, topping $50 billion.
“We are at the Minister of Finance’s self-imposed 120 day mark to deal with stimulous spending. The only thing the government offered on this day was an announcement that the deficit will now balloon to $50 billion. This is unacceptable,” said Mrs. Crombie.
The City of Mississauga has applied to the federal government for infrastructure money. The plans total $170 million and every deadline has been met. This includes $51 million towards road rehabilitation, $40 million for Civic Centre Building repairs, $4 million to city libraries, $14 million for park pathways and $5 million towards fire stations. City Council confirms that the projects are shovel and ready to go. However, time is of the essence in order to meet construction deadlines. To date, the only money released to Mississauga by the Conservative government is $15 million for Sheridan College.
Mrs. Crombie is very concerned that four months have passed and Mississauga is forced to sit idly by and wait for this government to act. “Mayor McCallion and Council have done everything they can do to qualify for funding,” said Mrs. Crombie. “We are paying the price of an incompetent government when they fail to get the money out the door when it is needed most,” added Mrs. Crombie.
“Liberals have been saying since November that Canada is in dire need of stimulous spending. Now we find ourselves in a situation that time might actually be running out. I agree with Mr. Ignatieff, Minister Flaherty should resign,” concluded Mrs. Crombie.
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