NDP budget proposals to make life more affordable

Budget 2014 must honour our veterans and reopen Veterans’ Affairs offices

Making life more affordable, creating jobs and honouring veterans top the New Democrats’ list of priorities for next week’s budget. The NDP is also calling on the Conservative government to reinstate the EcoEnergy retrofit program.

"Last week's cuts and insults against our veterans have deeply hurt people who put their lives on the line for us - we're calling on the government to reverse the Conservative cuts to veterans’ offices," said NDP Finance critic Peggy Nash (Parkdale-High Park). "We are also putting forward practical proposals to help Canadians who are struggling to make ends meet."

The NDP's costed plan calls on the government to:

• Make life more affordable by capping ATM and credit card fees, and end the pay-to-pay scheme
• Create jobs and strengthen small businesses with targeted incentives
• Help Canadians make their homes more energy efficient by bringing back EcoEnergy retrofits
• Honour our veterans by reversing Veterans Affairs cuts from the previous Conservative budget

"Conservatives are already signaling this will be a “do nothing” budget because they’d rather wait until an election year in 2015 to propose any new idea to campaign on," said NDP deputy Finance critic Guy Caron (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques). "There are still over 300,000 more people unemployed now than before the recession. Canadian families need a fair break and they need action now, not next year."