Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, seeking to move past a...
OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, seeking to move past a political crisis threatening its re-election prospects, lavished new spending on middle-class voters in its final budget on Tuesday ahead of October’s vote.
Trudeau has been on the defensive since Feb. 7 over allegations that top officials leaned on his former justice minister to help SNC-Lavalin Group Inc avoid a corruption trial. “There’s a growing sense of uncertainty taking root around the world ... and Canada is not immune to those worries,” Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in a prepared budget speech.
One of the budget’s highlights involved measures to help millennials and other first-time buyers - who have struggled to buy homes amid rising interest rates and stricter mortgage rules - boost their purchasing power without taking on too much debt.The new program lets first-time buyers finance a portion of their home purchases through a shared equity mortgage with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation , a government housing agency.
“It is a potential concession that they went a step too far in dampening the housing market,” said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.There was little in the budget for corporate Canada, despite repeated calls from business groups for wide-ranging tax cuts or changes to boost competitiveness.
The measure could help employers that say they are struggling to fill jobs requiring specialized skills, notably in the technology and healthcare fields.The budget also provided about C$3.8 billion over five years in spending on Canada’s indigenous people and inched forward a plan to broaden the state-funded healthcare program to help people deal with prescription drug costs.
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