Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau presented the Federal government’s ‘fiscal snapshot’ earlier this week. The document estimates a federal deficit of $343.2 billion for the 2020-21 fiscal year.
But what does that mean for North Bay?
Nipissing MP, Anthony Rota, says that it was something that needed to be done.
“The whole idea was to stabilize the economy and support Canadians,” he said. “We put out the largest economic package in generations. The way I see it; money helping Canadians through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, Canada Child Benefit, Canada Emergency Student Benefit, Old Age Security[ and more], were packages that went out and stabilized. I believe if the government hadn’t done that, we would have seen a much greater drop.”
Rota says that his back, as well as his party’s, was against the wall.
“Canadians needed help. It was time to do it. If we look at economies in other parts of the world, countries that didn’t help as much, or at all, the damage will be much more than Canada. By supporting people and allowing them to keep their jobs, allowing a steady income, it has kept the economy going. Not super busy, but what it did do was allowed Canadians to maintain. And now, as things are starting up again, people are ready to go. They’re hitting the road running instead of being in the hole. […] The important thing is that money got into the hands of people that needed it when they needed it.” He stated.
Rota believes that the bounce back will be seen right here in Nipissing as well, as the growth of home sales continues.
“What we’re seeing is a lot of people coming up from Toronto, as they realize the lifestyle we have here in Northern Ontario. We have what they don’t have in some aspects; so they sell their homes at a good price and come up here. We have a group of people, aiding our economy. What happened with COVID-19 is that a lot of these people can now work from home and that’s something that northern communities, like North Bay, will benefit from. If these folks come here and spend in our local economy, it helps, and it produces more jobs.” He said.
