Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, on his way to Victoria to talk to the premier, stopped in Nanaimo to walk along the waterfront and talk to people about cost-of-living challenges theysa国际传媒檙e facing.
Singh, accompanied by his family and Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP Lisa Marie Barron, walked along the Harbourfront Walkway on Tuesday, July 5.
Singh has been promoting the idea of doubling GST tax credits and increasing child benefits, which would add up to about $1,000 for some families. He said a lot of people are feeling pinched with soaring inflation piling on top of high costs for housing and rent.
The NDP leader said GST credits and child benefit cheques are a sa国际传媒渧ery direct and very immediatesa国际传媒� way to help people who need it quickly.
sa国际传媒淲ith the GST [credit], we know that as inflation has gone up, the GST revenue has gone up, so that windfall that the government has, we can redistribute that back to people that are squeezed by the cost of living going up, that are feeling it at the pumps, at the grocery store,sa国际传媒� Singh said.
He said raising interest rates as a sole response to inflation challenges sa国际传媒渨orking familiessa国际传媒� and said GST credits wonsa国际传媒檛 add to inflation because itsa国际传媒檚 a redistribution of money already in the system.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 hearing day in and day out about people struggling to make ends meet,sa国际传媒� said Barron. sa国际传媒淪o Isa国际传媒檓 happy to have Jagmeet here to hear from them and also talk about some real tangible solutions that we know that we can push for.sa国际传媒�
READ ALSO:
READ ALSO:
Singh previewed that later this afternoon, he will be talking to B.C. Premier John Horgan about health care. Premiers have asked for increased federal health transfers and Singh supports that increase, saying more money for provincial health systems would help with short- and long-term improvements, starting with hiring more health-care workers. He also suggested the federal government could fast-track immigration for health-care workers who want to come to Canada.
Singh is calling for an sa国际传媒渋mmediate recovery plansa国际传媒� for health care.
sa国际传媒淲e need to support it, we need to save it and we need to invest in itsa国际传媒a国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淥ften when health-care is not at the level that people need it, then yousa国际传媒檒l start to hear folks mention maybe we need private health care and that is dangerous because itsa国际传媒檚 going to mean a two-tier system sa国际传媒� if yousa国际传媒檝e got money, you get care, and if you donsa国际传媒檛 have money, you donsa国际传媒檛 get care. And we cansa国际传媒檛 let that happen in Canada.sa国际传媒�
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
Like us on and follow us on
