Federal budget passes
The Liberal government’s budget narrowly passed Monday after a confidence vote in the House of Commons, ending speculation about the budget’s fate and the possibility of a holiday election.
The budget passed 170-168.
Notably, two Conservative members of parliament (MPs) and two NDP MPs abstained from the vote, while Green Party leader Elizabeth May voted with the Liberals after prime minister Mark Carney gave a commitment to meeting the Paris Accord’s climate targets.
The budget features an emphasis on infrastructure as part of the “Building Canada Act,” while government agencies will see their budgets cut in the next few years.
That includes Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), which will have a reduction of two percent over the next few years.
Indigenous leaders across Canada have expressed concern over these reductions, including Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo.
“Even two percent when you’re already underfunded is detrimental,” Diabo told The Eastern Door last week for an article detailing the budget plan.
“I worry that they’re cutting funding to Indigenous community programs and putting money into these infrastructure programs so that we have to have them, so that we have no choice to support them.”
