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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday January 30, 2009 - 9 Local NDP president pans budget By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The recently released federal budget may not be exactly Conservative or Liberal, but it's definitely not New Democratic, noted one Oakville resident. Oakville NDP President Brian Hopkins said he was not surprised by the content of the Conservative budget, noting that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a political animal and as such produced a political budget designed to allow his government to survive. "It's not an economic plan for Canada's future," said Hopkins. "The richest in this country continue to have their way paved while Canadians in general don't really have that much of a future with the type of budget put forward by the Harper government." Hopkins described the highly-publicized tax cuts for the low and middle class as completely inadequate and the money for infrastructure as long overdue. Hopkins also noted the Conservative strategy for infrastructure development is unrealistic as it is contingent on municipal and provincial governments being able to chip in. "These provincial and municipal governments, in some cases, don't have any money today and aren't likely to have any if the recession worsens, which seems quite likely," said Hopkins. "Another problem with these infrastructure partnerships is that it is going to take some time to put together the provincial and municipal portions and we need these infrastructure projects to start now. People are being laid off now, we need job-creating projects now, not a year from now." Hopkins also noted that besides leaving Canadians and infrastructure out in the cold, the Conservative budget is grossly inadequate on the environmental front with little planning visible for the tackling of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions or getting more environmentally-friendly cars on the roads. A $1 billion fund for clean energy research did not impress Hopkins. "This is absurd. We don't need research. There is a host of information on what to do," said Hopkins. "This smells like another giveaway to a corporation." Hopkins is also angry there was nothing in the budget to address safety con- cerns at the nation's nuclear plants, something he finds unacceptable after a leak at the Chalk River nuclear plant in December. Halton MP and Minister of Natural Resources Lisa Raitt noted on Tuesday that the leak was contained and poses no danger to anyone. "This is a significant environmental matter that we have a nuclear plant leaking and the government doesn't want to spend the money or shut the thing down for a while to repair it," said Hopkins. "This is the type of mismanagement that we've had from this government on many fronts." Hopkins further noted that the government is doing nothing to protect Canadians from the toxic substances that continue to make their way into the environment. Hopkins is also having difficulty understanding how Canada can be going into deficit when so much money is being spent on the military. "Let's talk about the priorities and when it comes budget time, let's put all the cards on the table instead of just talking about some things while spending a host of money in an area that doesn't get questioned," said Hopkins. Off The Rack Jackets On Sale Regular $ 545 Now $ 99 D O W N TO W N O A K V I L L E 905-337-3155 Renovate · Decorate · Celebrate We help kids Chisholm Educational Centre Overcome Learning After School Tutorials Difficulties T SMAR Boards in every classroom F D Time is Precious, Mistakes are Costly and Decorating is complicated. 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