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Anne Pattel-Grey, the head of the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity, has told Q+A that the referendum on the Voice to Parliament is not political but rather a question that goes tothe integrity of all Australians.

Professor Pattel-Grey was responding to a question from Q+A host Stan Grant about what the referendum may bring.

"What Australia needs to be conscious of is that this is not a political agenda, this is a moral and ethical agenda and this will determine the integrity of Australia, because individually every personhas a role to play," Professor Pattel-Gray said.

"Whether they vote yesor whether they vote nois going to be to the individual's question of integrity."

Professor Pattel-Grey then called on Australians to look within as she painted a bleak picture for Indigenous Australians if the yes vote did not win.

"The Statement from the Heart is a statement from the heart," she said.

"Our people laid their soulbare to you and made themselves vulnerable in extending the hand to this nation and asking you to recognise us and to give us a voice.

"This country has criminalised our children, they are highly incarcerated, we are even locking up 10-year-olds.

"What a shame to thiscountry.

"And yet what you decide is going to determine our future.

"We shared with you our pain, but we also shared our hope, and if we don't have that hope recognised, youare then damning us to hell, and you are going to kill a nation ofpeople."

The comments drew a strong response from federal president of the Young Liberals Dimitry Chugg-Palmer.

Mr Chugg-Palmer said he would consider voting for the Voice, despite the official position of the Liberal Party being to oppose thefederal government's model for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

"I really want to support the Voice," Mr Chugg-Palmer said, before adding that he wanted to see more details made public.

"I think it is so important that we do have a respectful debate on this topic and we do work through the very important details that we need to see.

"We still haven't seen legislation for what exactly the Voice is going to be.

"Raising those questions and raising those doubtsis not a way of trying to frustrate or stop it, it is about being honest and so that we know what it is we are voting for when we walk into the ballot box.

"I want to see us reconcile with First Australians.

"I think it is the right thing to give them a say on decisions that affect them,that is afundamentally Liberal principle.

"That's why there are plenty of Liberals out there that will be supporting the referendum."

With former US president Donald Trump facing felony charges in New York and a 2024 election on the horizon that US President Joe Biden intends to run in, the stakes are high in US politics.

And there are fears that Mr Trump will use the charges to push his own narrative in the media and garner more support for a second term as president.

British broadcaster Andrew Neil, who has met Mr Trump, said anyone's fears of that happening were likely to be realised.

"I've met Donald Trump and it's much worse than you think," Neil said of the former US president.

"Donald Trump is a lucky man, given his enemies, because hisenemies sometimes play into his hands, and he has been charged on this with falsifying business records.

"The District Attorney who is taking on Mr Trump campaigned on the issue ...so this is him trying to deliver.

"He has to prove something very difficult which is that this misdemeanour led to a felony which was the corruption of the campaign laws.

"That is going to be really difficult to do because asfar as I can see none of the campaign laws were broken."

He said the case was something Mr Trump would actually welcome.

"For Mr Trump, publicity is like oxygen for the rest of us," Neil said.

"He can't exist without it and he is in hiselement now, he is on the front of every newspaper and every broadcast."

Asked if this was the wrong thing to charge Mr Trump over, Neil said in his view it was.

"There are things Mr Trump needs to answer forin the courts," he said.

"His attempt to strong-arm the Georgia authorities just to find another 12,000 votes that would have tipped Georgia over into his camp and therefore may have changed the result of the 2020 election, that seems to me far more important than putting a wrong entry into the business ledger."

Asked by Grant if Trump would win in 2024, Neil said he could not be sure.

"Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, the only one with achance of beating Trump, he is now looking like yesterday's man," he said.

"But then comes the general election, so he even if Mr Trump still wins the Republican nomination, it is not clear that he wins the general election.

"Mr Biden has beaten him before and Mr Trump's candidates in themid-term elections last year in November 2022 all did very badly.

"And the non-Trump Republicans did rather well, so I don't think it is a foregone conclusion."

Watch the full episode of Q+A on iview.

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Leader of Young Liberals will consider supporting Indigenous Voice to Parliament, despite party stance - ABC News

We stand in solidarity with the 120000 Treasury Board workers who overwhelmingly voted for a strike mandate.

Workers at the Treasury Board have been without a contract for more than a year while the cost of living soars.

Workers at the Canada Revenue Agency voted for a strike mandate last week. If the parties dont reach an agreement, Treasury board workers could be on strike right away and could be joined by the 35000 workers from the Revenue Agency as soon as Friday.

It is frustrating to see Trudeaus Liberals being okay with CEOs like Galen Weston being paid $11,79 million, but not okay with federal public service workers getting a decent wage offer that keeps up with inflation and recognizes people's hard work during the pandemic.

It's time for the Liberals to return to the negotiation table with a decent offer. Public service workers and Canadians deserve nothing less.

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Jagmeet Singh is calling on the Liberals to go back to the table with ... - New Democratic Party

OTTAWA Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is set to table a federal budget in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, which a federal source says will include plans to go after predatory lending and more details on dental care as part of a pitch to make life more affordable.

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The government official, who was granted anonymity to discuss matters that will not be public until the budget is released, said the federal Liberals intend to amend the Criminal Code to lower the amount of interest legally allowed to be charged.

Predatory lending often involves short-term loans at sky-high high interest rates. Often marketed to people in financially precarious situations, they can create a cycle of debt tough to escape.

The Criminal Code currently caps the legal interest rate at 60 per cent effective annual interest, which has been the case since it was set in 1980 a time when the key overnight rate set by the Bank of Canada was 21 per cent, compared to the 4.5 per cent it is today.

There is an exemption in most provinces for payday loans of up to $1,500 for 62 days or less, which means in some provinces the maximum annualized percentage rate is over 400 per cent.

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The source said the 2023 budget will propose the criminal interest rate be lowered to 35 per cent, which is what it is in Quebec, where courts have ruled anything higher would violate provincial consumer protection legislation. As a result, payday loan options there are limited.

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The move grows out of consultations announced in the 2021 budget, which did not address payday loans directly. The source said Tuesdays budget will propose consultations on narrowing the exemptions to the criminal interest rate when it comes to payday loans.

Getting tough on predatory lending is one way the Liberals are expected to portray this budget as offering to help vulnerable Canadians struggling with the cost of living, while balancing the need as strongly signalled by Freeland in her pre-budget speeches to show fiscal restraint.

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Another will be offering more details on the dental-care plan, with the federal government source confirming Tuesdays budget will include a meaningful investment on that front.

Last year, the Liberals committed to some form of federal dental-care coverage for low-income Canadians in its confidence-and-supply agreement with the New Democrats.

The deal means the NDP agreed to support the minority Liberal government through key votes until 2025 including on federal budgets in exchange for movement on shared priorities.

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The Liberals were unable to set up a federal dental-care program in time for the first deadline, but brought in an interim benefit last fall for children under the age of 12 in low-income households.

The confidence-and-supply agreement stipulates that dental care must be expanded to those who are under the age of 18, seniors or people with disabilities in low-income households by the end of this year and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he expects the money in the budget.

The deal also commits the Liberals to passing legislation on a national pharmacare program by the end of 2023 although theres been no sign of movement on that yet.

Lower-income Canadians can expect another cash benefit to help them pay their bills, while companies looking to mine critical minerals, make batteries and electric vehicles or produce clean electricity will see a host of measures to incentivize investment in their projects.

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The budget will also extend the temporary boost to the GST rebate for low-income Canadians, but will frame the payment as help with the rising cost of groceries.

It would provide up to $234 for a single person with no children, $467 for a couple with two children and $225 for a senior citizen, the same amounts as the government offered with the temporary doubling of the GST rebate last fall.

The budget is also expected to increase the withdrawal limit for a registered education savings plan from $5,000 to $8,000.

As The Canadian Press first reported last week, the budget will also outline the federal governments plan to work with regulatory agencies to go after hidden or unexpected surcharges tacked on to the prices of goods and services.

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The Liberals are also expected to make significant investments in clean energy and technology.

The Fall Economic Statement in November began Canadas attempt to respond to the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States. That policy, pushed by President Joe Biden, injects more than US$370 billion into clean technology and climate change policies, including some significant subsidies for companies that make renewable energy and carbon capture and storage systems.

In November, Freeland promised investment tax credits for hydrogen production and some clean tech, such as renewable electricity like solar and wind power, heat pumps and industrial electric vehicles.

Several sources, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the budget, said there will be new tax credits for the green economy. One of those sources described the tax credits as significant.

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They are intended to spur investment in the critical mineral industry and along the electric vehicle supply chain. That would include, for example, battery components and assembly.

During her pre-budget speeches, Freeland insisted the budget will show fiscal restraint and warned the government wont be able to compensate every Canadian for the rise in prices.

She has to balance all the spending demands with the risk the economy is going to take a turn for the worse this year. High interest rates could push Canada into a recession, which would affect tax revenues the government relies on to finance spending.

And with inflation a top concern for the Bank of Canada, the federal government is facing pressure to not fuel it further with high spending.

Freeland is expected to table the budget in the House of Commons at 4 p.m. EDT and deliver remarks on the document.

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Liberals to go after predatory lending in budget, invest in dental care plan - Toronto Sun

By The Canadian Press | March 27, 2023, 9:45am

Canadian should expect major funding for the clean economy in Tuesday's budget | Greg Pease/Stone/Getty Images

The federal Liberal government is expected to release its budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year on Tuesday.

Here's a look at three big things to expect:

Investments in the clean economy

Ottawa is expected to make big investments in clean energy and technology in the upcoming budget as it tries to keep competitive in the transition toward a greener economy.

Canada's main competitor is the United States, which decided last summer to invest nearly US$400 billion over ten years in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The law targets that investment in key areas tied to the clean economy: critical minerals, battery manufacturing, electric vehicles and renewable energy, including hydrogen.

As part of Canada's efforts to keep up, the government is expected to introduce new tax credits in the budget that would encourage the development of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

Promises on affordability

The Liberals have sought to signal that more help is on the way for vulnerable Canadians who are struggling with the cost of living.

In a speech delivered in Oshawa, Ont. last Monday, Finance MinisterChrystiaFreeland said the budget would include targeted inflation relief. But she warned the federal government won't have the capacity to compensate all Canadians for the rise in prices caused by global inflation.

The NDP has called on the federal government to extend the temporary boost to theGSTrebate that was offered in the fall. When he was recently asked about the potential move, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would not say if it was in the cards.

NDP LeaderJagmeetSingh has also called for federal funding for school lunches.

Following a U.S. decision to target hidden and unexpected consumer fees, the government intends to include its own crackdown on "junk fees" in the budget.

Big health-care spending

Last month, the federal government offered provinces and territories nearly $200 billion in funding for health care over the next 10 years. The spending on those agreements is expected to be allocated in the upcoming budget.

But the NDP, which agreed to support the Liberal minority government on key votes in exchange for movement on its priorities, is looking for far bigger commitments on the health front.

As part of the deal, the Liberals have already agreed to create a federally funded and administered dental care program this year. It would replace the dental benefit for children in low-income families that was rolled out in the fall.

The agreement also commits the Liberals to passing legislation to create a nationalpharmacareprogram by the end of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2023.

NojoudAlMallees, The Canadian Press

Link:
These are the three things you should expect in the federal Liberals' upcoming budget - Business in Vancouver

Up is down. War is peace. And not spending billions of dollars you dont have is reckless, according to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Investments in our economic capacity are fiscally responsible. And failure to make the necessary investments in our economic capacity and our economic future, that is irresponsible, and that is reckless, Ms. Freeland told an Oshawa, Ont., audience this week.

That should certainly put to rest any worry that the Liberals might match their rhetoric of fiscal prudence with any real spending restraint in next Tuesdays budget. Last falls halfhearted projection of a surplus in fiscal 2027-28 is likely to be a distant memory. As the accompanying chart shows, the spurt of Liberal spending since last spring means Canada is more likely headed for wall-to-wall deficits over the next half-decade, despite an inflation-fuelled surge in revenues.

The governments fall economic statement forecast cumulative deficits of $69.4-billion from the coming fiscal year through to fiscal 2028. According to the most recent projections from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, those cumulative deficits have nearly doubled, to $112.7-billion. And that is before Ms. Freeland tacks on extra billions of dollars of definitely-not-reckless spending in Tuesdays budget.

The Finance Ministers view on what is, or is not, reckless fiscal policy seems anchored in the world of two years past, when the prospect of a long stretch of low interest rates emboldened progressive governments to splash billions of dollars on pet projects, and to shrug at the arithmetic of higher deficits and debt.

According to the PBO, debt servicing costs are on course to nearly double between fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2028, rising to a projected $46-billion from $24.5-billion. Debt costs are, by far, the fastest growing expense line for Ottawa.

None of that seems to be discouraging new spending initiatives. In her prebudget stumping, Ms. Freeland hinted that she will focus new spending on limited cost-of-living assistance for poorer Canadians, higher health transfers and aggressively subsidizing sorry, investing in the green economy. And there is sure to be additional spending on the newly launched federal dental benefits.

Those outlays will come on top of last years omnidirectional spending, also aimed at retooling Canadas economy. Now, we do agree that much more needs to be done to reinvigorate this countrys economic performance. In the last budget, Ms. Freeland rightly flagged the persistent problem of poor productivity growth. That was a long overdue recognition that our future prosperity is imperilled.

But the governments response to an increasingly sclerotic economy has been more intervention, more bureaucracy, more spending and more debt. Theres little to indicate that next week will mark any break from the Liberals enthusiasm for 1970s-style economic interventionism that pushes investment decisions into the hands of government.

Budgets are about making choices. In our prebudget coverage, weve laid out some of those choices: pruning benefits for wealthy, elderly Canadians; boosting child-care transfers to keep pace with inflation; avoiding a ruinous increase in health care transfers; boosting defence spending; and rolling back the size of government.

Budgets are about deciding where to spend, and just as important, where not to spend. The biggest fiscal failure of the Trudeau Liberals has been their insistence on ignoring this basic tenet of sound finance, and instead each year layering new spending on old, while blithely ignoring the mounting pressure of the national debt.

That deliberate, persistent failure can be summed up in just one word reckless.

Link:
Globe editorial: Budget 2023: The Liberals' reckless deficit of choice - The Globe and Mail