Kamloops MP Caputo, Conservatives to vote against budget bill

Last week, the Mark Carney-led Liberal government presented its first official budget. The budget document stands as a confidence motion, meaning if it fails, it would bring down the government and trigger another federal election before the end of the year. Already, however, the Liberals have withstood two confidence motions as both the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois attempted unsuccessfully to amend the document.

The Conservatives have signaled they will vote against the budget when it comes forward next week in the House of Commons. For Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola MP Frank Caputo, the main issue is around fiscal responsibility.

“We have a $78.3-billion deficit next year that will add $5,400 per family to the tax base of the government,” Caputo told CFJC News. “That is what it’s going to cost your family, that is what it’s going to cost my family. [If] you want to quantify numbers, that is an easy way to do it.”

The dollars and cents don’t end there for Caputo, highlighting the rising debt level in Canada.

“Our interest payments alone are basically the whole deficit, and what are we doing? We are spending more,” said Caputo. “If you can afford to live in a $500,000 house as a person, then don’t buy an $800,000 house and mortgage your future. This government, in my view, is mortgaging our future by living in a $1,000,000 house when it has the means for a $500,000 house. And I’m not prepared to put my children, my grandchildren, our children, our grandchildren on shaky financial ground.”

The Tories actually voted with the Liberals in a confidence motion last week on a Bloc amendment, defeating the motion and keeping the Liberal government afloat.

“The Bloc amendment wasn’t something that we could agree with. The government wouldn’t have fallen, I don’t believe, in any case, in that instance. You always have to wonder, this is a party that literally wants to divide Canada, break up Canada,” said Caputo, “so whenever I do see Bloc legislation that is from the party and not a private members bill, I generally do take it with a grain of salt.”

The Liberal budget bill comes forward for a final vote next week on Monday.