New national park, frozen Confederation Bridge tolls in federal budget
CBC
An extension of a freeze on Confederation Bridge tolls and another step toward making Pituamkek, a chain of islands along the North Shore, a national park reserve were part of what the federal budget has for P.E.I.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland presented the budget to Parliament on Tuesday.
It included $71.9 million, to be spent over the next 12 years to establish Canada's 48th national park at Pituamkek. The chain of islands making up Pituamkek runs from the mouth of Malpeque Bay up to Alberton.
The islands are a unique sandhill ecosystem, and of great cultural significance to the Mi'kmaq. The federal government first announced an interest in turning it into a national park reserve in 2019.
Ottawa is extending a program to maintain the current tolls on Confederation Bridge, and also freezing the cost of riding the Wood Islands ferry to Nova Scotia.
In December the federal government announced it would fund the holding of Confederation tolls for 2024 at its current cost, which for a two-axle vehicle leaving P.E.I. is $50.25.
The budget extends that program for two years, to the end of 2026, at a cost of $14 million.
The budget also includes $2.5 million for the Ferry Services Contribution Program — which covers ferry service between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Eastern Quebec — and would hold the line on those fares until the end of 2025.
The budget also included $8.5 billion in new spending for housing.
Canada is in a housing crisis, as is P.E.I., but it is not just money that is holding back the building of new homes.
Sam Sanderson, general manager of the Construction Association of P.E.I., said he would have liked to have seen more support for the labour force in the budget.
"I didn't hear much about the support of training and the support of upskilling and things like that for the industry that is going to be building the housing and the infrastructure," said Sanderson.
The budget failed to reflect the shortage of skilled trades in the country and on the Island, he said.