Sarnia-Lambton's Conservative MP says the Trudeau government's 2021 budget misses the mark in a number of areas.
Marilyn Gladu said when you're spending $100-billion extra dollars, it's easy to please quite a number of people.
Despite the massive spending bill, Gladu believes the budget falls short.
"I was disappointed not to see so much high-speed internet money -- only $1-billion there -- and I think that's a huge need, not just in Sarnia-Lambton but across the country."
Gladu said there was little for pharmacare and other previously announced programs, and she said the budget really did nothing to address the inflamed housing market.
"While there was a tax put on foreign, non-resident vacant properties, I think the government could have done more to stop the purchase of properties by people who don't live in Canada, which is only inflaming the market and making it difficult for first-time home buyers to actually get a home."
Gladu said there should be a plan to return to fiscal responsibility and to ultimately safely restore normal operations.
"It looks like they intend to just continue to pour money into people, but they don't have a plan to actually get out of the pandemic. We continue to see inadequate border controls where they've reported 30 flights coming from India carrying COVID, numerous variants coming in from Brazil," she said. "While everybody wants to support those that need help here in the pandemic, I think having a plan to exit the pandemic and restore the economy is key."
Last month, Gladu supported a Conservative party motion calling on the Trudeau government to produce a plan within 20 days to end the pandemic lockdowns. She said no progress has been made on that front.
There were items in the budget, however, that Gladu welcomes, including $30-billion for affordable child care.
"I think it's important to have options and to try to address the things that keep women out of the workforce, so that's an important item."
Gladu said as an engineer, she's happy to see $3.2-billion going to science and innovation.
She's also pleased that there is $30-million to further her palliative care project, $1-billion for tourism and festivals, a 10 per cent increase for seniors on Old Age Security, money for long-term care, and money for affordable housing.
