It should come as no surprise to anyone that Battlefords-Lloydminster MP Gerry Ritz has voiced his approval of the 2014 federal budget handed down Tuesday.
In a statement Wednesday, the federal agriculture minister welcomed the budget and cited its focus on job creation, economic growth and low taxes as positives for his constituency.
"While Canada has the strongest job creation record among all G-7 countries, with more than 1 million net new jobs created since the depth of the global recession, many Canadians are still looking for work," said Ritz.
"That's why Economic Action Plan 2014 will continue our Conservative Government's focus on creating more jobs and growing the economy in Battlefords-Lloydminster and across the country."
The news release from Ritz's office praised the budget for keeping taxes low and returning to balanced budgets in 2015, pointing to initiatives such as the Canada Job Grant, Canada Apprentice Loan and investments in Canada's national parks, among others.
The release noted the federal government had turned back Liberal and NDP demands for more spending, noting the budget contained no new taxes on families and businesses.
"As we've seen in places like Greece and Detroit, not having one's fiscal house in order can lead to incredible economic instability, dramatic cuts to government programs, and higher taxes," said Ritz.
The Conservative MP also pointed to growing provincial transfers, with Saskatchewan's transfers growing to $1.4 billion in 2014-15, for a 31 per cent increase compared to when the Liberals were in power.
"While the Liberals radically slashed transfers to Saskatchewan, decimating the health care, education and other important social services that families here rely on, under our Conservative Government federal support has grown to historic levels, and will continue to grow into the future," says Ritz.
