Labour minister Kellie Leitch received some budget feedback on a recent Wood Buffalo visit, which is appropriate since she spent a good part of her childhood as a Fort MacMurray resident. When the upcoming budget is released Leitch hopes that the figures will remember what Wood Buffalo stands for. On a recent Tuesday the labour minister took a tour of the Wood Buffalo region and meeting with residents and local business leaders in the area. Leitch also toured a Syncrude Canada mine while she was in the region to consult about certain budget considerations and to check in on the various federal initiatives in the area. The minister commented “It’s our wish that the constituency will be well represented in the upcoming budget.”

There has been a delay since January with the 2015 budget, and the labour minister has said she does not yet know what the budget looks like or when it will actually be released. When discussing the budget feedback received so far Leitch commented “Family tax cut packages will put on average $1,200 back into the hands of Canadian parents. Almost 8 million Canadian families will benefit from tax cut packages.” The labour minister also stated “What Canadians are most concerned about is that Canadians come first when it comes to Canadian jobs. Temporary foreign workers should be available to firms only when they need them. Sometimes a Canadian is just not available. One of the things Syncrude highlighted was how Syncrude punches above its weight with how many young women with skilled trades are at their workforce. That’s something we want to see replicated across the country.”