January 11, 2011
Cullen queries Tory budget process as PG left off list
Gordon Hoekstra
The Citizen
The federal Conservative government is asking communities about their top economic priorities to help prepare the 2011 budget.
But Prince George isn’t among them and that irks a Northern B.C. NDP MP.
Federal budget consultations will include 150 meetings across Canada, including meetings on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, the Kootenays and Kamloops.
Invitations have been sent to communities, regional districts and other stakeholders, said Cariboo-Prince George Conservative MP Dick Harris. The sessions are jstarting now and will continue for the next two to three weeks.
NDP MP Nathan Cullen said he can’t believe Prince George is not on the list of consulted communities.
“I’d start a petition to get one of those meetings in Prince George,” said Cullen, who represents the riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley, which stretches from the coast to Fort St. James, just east of Prince George.
Cullen said each year he holds a dozen community meetings to get input on priorities, which usually focus on infrastructure projects to help create a base for job creation.
There appeared to be little awareness in Prince George of the federal budget consultations.
Fraser-Fort George Regional District spokesperson Renee McCloskey said the organization didn’t know about the consultation and had not received an invitation.
Prince George city officials also had no information about the 2011 federal budget consultations.
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Initiative Prince George CEO Tim McEwan said he has been waiting to hear about the possibility to give input into the federal process. He said he has meetings scheduled with House Leader John Baird and Transportation Minister Chuck Strahl.
He also expects to communicate with groups like the city and the Prince George Airport Authority on a budget priority list.
One top priority is a federal contribution to a wood innovation and design centre that the province has said will be built in downtown Prince George, said McEwan.
Tory MP Dick Harris said the new budget won’t see big increases in spending.
“It will not include any dangerous new spending commitments this year that would trigger higher taxes, kill jobs and reverse Canada’s fragile economic growth,” Harris said Monday.
The Conservatives haven’t set a date for the 2011 budget, but it’s normally unveiled before the fiscal year-end on March 31.
The Conservatives rolled out a multi-billion dollar spending plan in 2009 and 2010 meant to stimulate the economy. It pushed Canada into a record deficit in 2009 at $55.6 billion. That is forecast to be reduced to $45.4 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31.
The Conservatives plan to the deficit further this year, with an aim of balancing the budget by 2015.
