The Liberals have done enough to honour their agreement with the NDP, but that doesn’t mean the federal budget will pass without opposition. The NDP, the Green party and the Bloc Quebecois have concerns about whether enough money is being spent on the environment.

However, three of the four opposition parties are praising the Liberals’ emphasis on housing.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the commitment to double the number of homes built annually over the next decade is the “landmark ambition” of this budget.

The $14 billion in new spending on housing also includes a two-year ban on foreign buyers, targeted funding for municipalities to build affordable housing and money to double the first time homebuyers’ tax credit.

Singh said his party forced the Liberals to reconsider what the government considers to be affordable housing. It’s now calculated at 80 percent of the average market rate rather than 80 percent of median income, a definition that “would have resulted in not-affordable housing.”

Amita Kuttner of the Greens was “very happy to see the promise of 6,000 units” of co-operative housing.

Interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen said the Official Opposition didn’t find what it was looking for in the housing plan, saying the Liberals have “lost their way,” leaning further to the left.

“We still have critiques and criticisms,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Thursday. “We’re concerned, deeply concerned, about the approach on the environment.”

He said the government should be spending more on clean energy instead of giving subsidies to fossil fuel companies.

The leaders of the Green party and echoed that.

Kuttner said the plan to get to net-zero is not enough to meet Canada’s emissions reduction targets and the Greens wanted the budget to centre on climate change in every policy area.

“It is a typical, classic NDP spend-and-tax budget,” Bergen said at a news conference.

However, the Conservatives were happy to see more than $8 billion directed toward the defence budget. They put forward a motion in the House of Commons earlier this week to raise defence spending to two percent of Canada’s GDP, a significant increase that NATO allies have been calling for.

The budget plan will raise spending to 1.5 percent, according to finance officials.

That piece of the plan isn’t sitting well with the Liberals’ main dance partner, but it isn’t enough to cause the confidence and supply deal to collapse, though both the Conservatives and the Bloc Quebecois have indicated they’ll be voting against the Liberals.

Still, when Parliament resumes sitting after the two-week break, the government can breathe easy knowing it has the numbers to survive any confidence votes on the budget motion.

Travel reaction

ACTA was disappointed that the 2022 federal budget “failed to address the ongoing need for support for travel agencies and independent travel agents, who are still far from recovery.”

All temporary financial support programs are being phased out, and there is no provision in the budget for an extension to the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program wage and rent subsidies or for independent travel agent financial support.

It is expected that wage and rent subsidies will end as scheduled on May 7, 2022, and no direct financial support for independent travel agents is forthcoming.

ACTA president, Wendy Paradis said in a statement that, “ACTA’s focus transitions from survival to recovery and advocacy will begin with all levels of government on lifting remaining barriers to travel, reducing regulatory burdens, tackling the labour crisis, and fostering an environment where travel agencies and independent travel agents can thrive. As a key stakeholder, we will work closely with the Ministry of Tourism on the new post-pandemic Federal Tourism Growth Strategy to ensure resiliency and opportunity in Canada’s travel and tourism sectors.

“We will have further analysis of the 2022 federal budget at our upcoming townhall. All are welcome to attend our English webinar on April 11 at 1PM Eastern (register here) https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/25094574564815118 and in French on April 13 at 11AM Eastern (register here). https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3100075654221782032