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In each of my eight town-hall constituency meetings this month, a hot topic was Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s proposed tax changes to small businesses. I try hard to assess any government proposals from as nonpartisan an approach as possible. My constituents want to know that I listen and respond honestly.

In that, I am coming to the conclusion that the Liberals’ tax changes may not be directed at all the individuals and companies who are now panicking. In an attempt to capitalize on this issue, some parties are pressing the panic button hard.

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It is clear the Liberals are themselves panicked about heading into the 2019 election with a deficit that could be as high as $30 billion. Reducing the deficit matters.

We need to balance the budget, but at the same time, we must increase spending. Too many areas of critical public investment have been ignored for too long. We must restore habitat protection to our fisheries; rehire federal scientists; re-open offices for veterans’ services; improve health and education, housing and water infrastructure in Indigenous communities; and address the soaring infrastructure deficit. None of this is cheap and no one wants to acknowledge the reality that the Stephen Harper administration cut taxes too deeply while increasing the federal debt.