Federal Budget Battle

Canadians hoping to get details of the new Liberal budget had to wait longer than first thought, thanks to a Conservative delaying tactic.

An hour after it was scheduled to be presented, Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled his 4th and final budget before the October election.

The Conservatives have expressed their anger by drowning out the Finance Minister’s budget speech after Liberals on the Commons Justice Committee used their majority to end the investigation into the SNC Lavalin.

Banging their desks, Tories were chanting “let her speak” as Bill Morneau tried to be heard. The chant was in reference to former Attorney General Jody Wilson Raybould. Morneau’s speech was delayed by more than an hour. The Conservatives did that by dragging out a vote on a motion to allow MPs studying Canada’s fisheries to travel.

The Federal Liberals are signalling they plan to spend their way through the October election, unveiling a budget today that contains a 20-billion-dollar windfall over five years. The single biggest investment is in Indigenous services: $8.1 billion over five years for improving health care, ending boil water advisories on reserves and settling land claims.

What sparked the Conservative outrage happened this morning when the Liberal members on that Justice Committee voted to end the study into alleged political interference in the SNC-Lavalin criminal case.

Hours later, during the House of Commons question period, Trudeau accused Scheer of desperately wanting to talk about anything other than the Federal budget.

Then, shortly after 5pm, Morneau tabled his budget and then left the house without giving his speech.