With the provincial Conservatives revealing their first budget, Laurie Scott says there is a lot to take away.
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP and Minister of Labour, Laurie Scott spoke with MyHaliburtonNow.com about the budget. Scott emphasizes that there is a lot to digest from the budget saying “there’s just so much, there are 387 pages”.
Some of the big-ticket items that Scott shared excitement over were “increases to both healthcare and education,” she goes on to say “we are addressing seniors, senior’s dental care program, which will help a lot of low-income seniors which we have a lot of in the riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock.”
Another item that Scott pointed to as a good thing was the Child Care Access and Relief Credit, which she says offers parents up to $6,000 per child under seven years old. Scott says that 87 per cent of her riding qualifies for this credit.
When asked about the portion of the budget that details 39 municipalities would be getting grants for transportation projects, Scott says that the recently announced repairs to Highway 35 were a part of the $250 million given to rural and northern municipalities. She says that there were some highways within the riding that were getting “much-needed dollars to help repair.”
Scott says “overall, we are giving $26 billion in tax relief to families and there are no tax increases,” she goes on to say that the province got rid of driver’s licence fees and the drive clean program.
Dawning her Minister if Labour hat, Scott says, the Conservatives are revamping the Employment Services Programs, which she says is going to line them up with businesses and what’s available. She believes will lift people out of poverty. Scott says that she has heard there is a need to not just get trades into schools, but increased accessibility to training for people switching careers.
Switching back to local concerns, Scott touches on the changes to healthcare by saying “it is a lot that we are asking but we are going to have local health teams listening to the needs and how we deliver better home care in the Haliburton Highlands. Scott points out that there was a recent announcement that the province was going to help the Haliburton Highlands Health Services with their capital expenses at both locations.
Speaking on housing, Scott says the budget has room for housing projects across the province, but as of right now those details are under wraps for the time being. “you are going to see a lot more details on housing supply, there is an action plan and a community housing renewal strategy.”
Scott says the province and the federal government are going to spend $4 billion over the next nine years on housing.