Tony's homies huddle today over budget

The federal NDP isn't going to support the budget, says Sault MP Tony Martin.

Whether the Liberals will remains to be seen.

In a telephone interview from Ottawa last night, Martin told SooToday.com that all parties will be meeting in caucus today to determine how much, if any, of the Conservative budget they will be supporting.

If it's rejected by the Liberals as well as the NDP, Canada could soon find itself in a coalition government, Martin said.

If they support it, Canada could soon find itself in another election.

There are a few good things in the budget for the Sault and area, though, Martin says.

"There's a commitment to twinning some of Highway 11 and Highway 17 in Northern Ontario," he said. "There's some references to money to upgrade places like the Great Lakes Forestry Centre, which I believe could be used to move forward on this invasive species project."

But he doubts the Conservatives intend to actually deliver what they are sort-of promising in the budget, and Martin questions the red tape attached to those promises.

"Some of what they announced, particularly in the infrastructure funding, is just a re-announcement of what they brought forward in the last two budgets."

"It's just more of the same. It still has the same red tape and requirement of contribution by municipalities and provinces and they (particularly the municipalities) are telling us they're tapped out."

One area of interest in the budget is the infrastructure funding that could go to Sault Ste. Marie's much-needed International Bridge plaza, a deep-water port at Essar Steel Algoma and maybe even a passport office.

But Martin said without knowing details about how this funding will be distributed and what conditions will be placed on it, there's no way to tell for sure whether the Sault can access it.

The coalition government would be more effective than the Harper government is proving to be, Martin said.

"We will implement [an effective budget] - probably do a better job of implementing it. It will happen faster and have less bureaucratic red tape attached to it."

A coalition government would also be more stable than the Harper Conservative government, he said.

Political stability, Martin said, is essential to speed Canada's economic recovery and place it in the most advantaged position possible when the world economy begins to pick up again.

"Whether there's going to be a Liberal/NDP government now depends very much on the Liberals," said Martin. "They have two choices in front of them. In one, they can opt for a stable two-and-a-half years of good government with the NDP and with a program which is progressive and has everything in it that people out there have told us they need to both get through this recession and also position us to be able to take advantage of the new green economy that's coming at us. Or, they can shore up or support Stephen Harper and his government... and we'll be into, I believe, a real period of instability where everybody will be jockeying for position."

Martin predicted that, if the Liberals support the Harper Conservative budget, we could be into another election in six months, most likely within a year.

"They're going to let us know [this] morning," he said.

A big criticism he has of this budget was the regional funding issues.

"There's nothing in this budget for FedNor," said Martin. "There's a commitment to continue FedNor but no indication that it's going to increase."

The Harper government has said it's going to increase the regional development agencies in other areas of Canada such as Atlantic and Western Canada as well as Quebec, but no increases for FedNor, he said.

"They have said they're going to introduce a brand-new regional development agency for Southern Ontario and provide them with a billion dollars over two years," Martin said.

Meanwhile he and the NDP continue to lobby for projects needed to revitalize Algoma's economy, he said.

Martin just hopes it will be under a Liberal/NDP coalition.

Because that way, he says it's sure to happen and happen faster than it would with Stephen Harper's Conservatives in power.