In reaction to the government’s 2025 fall budget, NDP finance critic Don Davies made the following statement:

“Canada is facing serious economic challenges. Unemployment is at its highest point in a decade, with young people particularly struggling to find jobs. Half of Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque. The cost of essentials, from feeding your family to paying your rent, continues to rise. And our economy is teetering on the edge of a recession, with US President Donald Trump intent on inflicting further damage.

In this context, this is a critical budget, and it comes at a critical time for our country.

New Democrats understand that we were sent to Ottawa to work for workers and their families. We have said Canadians need a budget that will invest to create good, family-sustaining union jobs; we have said Canadians need a budget that will help build millions of new affordable homes; we have said Canadians need a budget that invests in the programs and services that families rely on, notably our health care system.

And we have said that it is Prime Minister Mark Carney’s responsibility to put together a budget that invests in the needs of Canadians and that can pass in the House of Commons. If he is not able to do that, he bears ultimate responsibility.

Now that the budget is presented, we can begin the work of judging whether it meets the needs of Canadians.

It would appear on first review that there are measures in this budget that we welcome and indeed have advocated for. Measures such as providing additional infrastructure funding tied to union jobs, making an explicit commitment to co-op housing and referencing an East-West electricity grid.

Unfortunately, there are measures which we believe are a step in the wrong direction, including cutting public sector workers and the services they provide for Canadians, eliminating the Unused Housing Tax and reaffirming the government’s multi-billion dollar giveaway to US tech giants.

New Democrats will take the time to study the budget and talk to Canadians. We will have more to say in the coming days. ”