Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget has united much of Parliament in a rare show of agreement, that being total rejection. Every opposition party, from the Bloc Québécois to the Greens, has declared it will not support the budget, blasting it as either fiscally reckless, socially unjust, or a betrayal of core commitments..Conservatives: “biggest budget outside of covid”Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman dismissed the budget as “a really expensive one, and a really long speech.” She said the $78.3-billion deficit is “double what every Canadian family can afford,” accusing Carney of breaking his own promise to keep spending under control.“This is $90 billion in new spending, $300 billion in new debt, $20,000 per family — and nothing to make life more affordable,” Lantsman said in an interview with CBC’s David Cochrane.She argued the government has “doubled the deficit, doubled the debt, and done nothing to lower grocery, gas, or housing costs.” Conservatives, she confirmed, will vote against the budget, calling it “the biggest budget outside of COVID — with not a single measure for affordability.”.Bloc Québécois: “a discriminatory, unserious budget”Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet tore into the fiscal plan as a “continuation of Justin Trudeau’s discriminatory legacy.”He accused Carney and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne of ignoring Quebec’s priorities — from equal Old Age Security payments for seniors aged 65 to 74, to increases in health-care transfers that keep pace with rising system costs.“There is no end to this injustice,” Blanchet said. “Retirees under 75 will keep receiving smaller pensions while Ottawa runs a $68-billion deficit and refuses to correct discrimination.”The Bloc leader also called the federal infrastructure plan “a joyful trick” with “$115 billion announced, but only $9 billion in real money.” He said the budget “reeks of interference” in Quebec’s jurisdiction and “pretends climate change doesn’t exist,” pointing to just $4 million in climate funding versus billions for oil and gas tax credits..NDP: “mixed budget, wrong priorities”Interim NDP Leader Don Davies took a more measured tone but reached the same conclusion: the New Democrats will not back the budget.He acknowledged “some positive measures” — notably $51 billion in infrastructure funding tied to union jobs, a mention of a clean electricity grid, and renewed support for co-op housing — but said these are outweighed by “40,000 public-sector job cuts and the cancellation of fair taxes.”“When you have a jobs crisis, cutting good unionized jobs is the wrong direction,” Davies said. “Behind every job is a service — and Canadians already wait months for passports or tax replies.”He slammed the cancellation of the vacant-housing tax and the absence of a digital services tax on tech giants, saying Ottawa “chose to protect billionaires instead of public services.”.Greens: “my grandchildren lose”Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, flanked by former MP Mike Morrice, said the budget represents “generational sacrifice” and a “betrayal of Canada’s climate obligations.”“This government didn’t even mention our Paris targets,” May said. “It’s jettisoned most climate programs, including the oil and gas cap, while giving even more subsidies to fossil fuels.”Morrice added that the budget’s $56-billion in public-service cuts would gut programs like the Greener Homes retrofit, public transit funding, and Pharmacare expansion. “There are sacrifices,” he said, “but they’re not evenly felt.”May said she was open to negotiation but disappointed that Carney had not reached out to opposition leaders. “He’s not the CEO of a company called Canada — he’s the prime minister of a minority government. It’s time to talk.”Despite that invitation, May confirmed the Greens “will vote no on this budget.”.A united “no”While each opposition party frames its critique differently — fiscal restraint for Conservatives, Quebecois preference for the Bloc, worker protection for the NDP, and climate urgency for the Greens, the result is the same: a united front against Carney’s budget.With every opposition leader pledging to vote “no,” the Liberal government faces a precarious path ahead. In a minority Parliament where “every vote counts,” as May warned, Carney’s first budget could also be his first major test of survival.
