Mr. Speaker, my colleague is an incredible defender of issues that many people on the margins face, including in her own constituency, and her advocacy alongside many indigenous advocates who speak passionately about the issues of poverty and marginalization they face on an ongoing basis.
As the New Democrats have pointed out time and again, one of the first things the Liberal government came up with was a tax cut that it claimed would help middle-class Canadians. However, the parliamentary budget officer said that Canadians who made $200,000 or more a year stood to benefit the most. Despite the rhetoric, what is true is that the wealthiest Canadians continue to benefit more under the government while everyone else continues to lose out.
I can speak to a big issue that is on the minds of many people in my constituency, which is employment insurance, a program that should be there for Canadians when they have fallen on hard times. I referred to this as well in my speech. Unfortunately, this budget does not go nearly far enough in making EI more accessible to Canadians. Only 40% of Canadians are able to access it, so much more needs to be done.
Fundamentally, what this budget does not do is get at the structures that exacerbate inequality in our country. Under the Liberals, it continues to benefit those who have a lot already, while certainly not being on the side of everyone else.