Mayor Greg Wilson/CKDR Files
Federal support for the beleaguered tourism industry is being welcomed by Dryden Mayor Greg Wilson.
In the 2021 budget there is $200 million for major festivals, $200 million in support of community events and $500 million to help tourism-based businesses.
However, Wilson says he would like to see 100% of the funds go directly to existing tourism outfitters.
With the lengthy closure of the Canada/U.S. border, Wilson stresses, “What we need is proper compensation so they can hold on to their business and start to rebuild.”
He questions how much money northwestern Ontario will receive, predicting we won’t see much or any of the funding, as well as if the money is new or recycled,
The Dryden Mayor is also pleased to see additional spending for childcare and affordable housing.
The fiscal document calls for $30 billion over five years for a national childcare plan and $2.5 billion for affordable housing.
However, Greg Wilson is concerned with the massive spending package.
He says with a proposed 2021-2022 budget deficit of $155 billion plus $10 billion in new taxes, the question is where are we going to get the money to pay for it all without hurting municipalities.
Wilson stresses, “You just can’t borrow and print your way out of debt.”
He adds, “I did some research on our federal debt projections and it’s projected to hit $1.4 trillion by 2024.”
Wilson notes we went through this scenario before in Canada in the 60’s and 70’s, borrowing and spending like there’s no tomorrow, and it created the conditions for runaway inflation and interest rates in the 80’s.
He says we didn’t recover from that borrowing binge for 20 years.
To hear more from Mayor Greg Wilson on the 2021 federal budget, visit the Audio link below:
