Larry O’Brien

On the eve of the tabling of the federal budget, the Governor General of Canada has given Canadians a sense of what is to be expected tomorrow and has also outlined the priorities of the Conservative government through the Throne Speech.

In these last few months the political environment has changed. World economic forces are impacting our economy and while we are in a better position to weather the storm than other nations, action must be taken to protect the livelihood of workers across Canada.

That is why I was pleased to see a commitment to fund infrastructure projects that will not only provide a economic stimulus, but will have a lasting effect on our communities as we struggle to address the infrastructure gap.

Cities like Ottawa need the support of both the provincial and federal governments to stimulate growth with long-term investments in infrastructure projects. That is why we have presented a list of projects that with shared funding from the federal and provincial governments we can begin almost immediately to create jobs and improve our city. We will also continue to seek funding for some of our larger and longer-term projects such as Ottawa’s new transit network, the Congress Centre and the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park.

The goal must be to react to the economic pressures in a fiscally responsible manner and to ensure that everyone, including the most vulnerable, can emerge from this period stronger and better prepared to seize opportunities in the future.

The government presented their priorities for this session of Parliament today and will take the next important step tomorrow with the federal budget. I encourage everyone to focus on the important job at hand and work together to restore Canada’s economy.