SURREY - The Surrey Board of Trade has given the latest federal budget a "cautious thumbs up."
The Board of Trade likes the government's commitment to earmark funds for infrastructure repair and replacement.
"We are hoping that some of these infrastructure funds will be allocated to build Surrey's light rail," said Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade. "Surrey needs these funds because idling in our cars because of traffic congestion or bridge delays does not improve our quality of life and productivity."
However, SBOT doesn't like the government's cancellation of a $200-million-per-year wage subsidy program that was intended to encourage small businesses to hire more workers.
Surrey's New Democratic MPs are calling it a "do-nothing" budget.
"This budget was an opportunity for the government to invest in jobs - to create better ones, help sustain good ones and to strategize around lowering the youth employment rate in this province and across the country," said Jinny Sims, NDP MP for Newton-North Delta. "Instead, they've chosen to do nothing."
Jasbir Sandhu, NDP MP for Surrey North, said Tuesday's budget "does nothing to address rising crime rates here in Surrey - their promise in 2006 for more police on our streets was obviously nothing more than cheap talk."
Nina Grewal, Conservative MP for Fleetwood-Port Kells, said her party's Economic Action Plan 2014 "contains no new taxes on families and businesses."
Also on Tuesday, the provincial government delivered its throne speech in Victoria. The Liberal government says it will introduce its second consecutive balanced budget, a 10-year skills training plan for youths and older workers, a 10-year transportation plan, a plan for "personalized education for students and a decade of labour peace," and a "long-term, comprehensive strategy to move toward a violencefree B.C.," among other things.