St. John’s, NL (May 16, 2025) – Tony Wakeham, Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and MHA for Stephenville – Port au Port, today criticized the Liberals for voting to accept the recycled provincial budget without addressing the many issues that are negatively impacting seniors and families.

“My Progressive Conservative Caucus colleagues and I have repeatedly called on the Liberals to make changes in the budget that would provide real help to the people of this province who are struggling with the soaring cost of living, but we’ve had no success,” said Wakeham. “This is a pattern with the Liberal government. Despite knowing this year’s budget fails to give people the relief they need, the Liberals refused to make changes.”

Wakeham noted that even members within the Liberal ranks are admitting the budget falls short, especially for the province’s most vulnerable. One Liberal MHA conceded that “obviously current financial support programs are not sufficient for our seniors, so more needs to be done.” Another member called it “a necessary budget, but not an aggressive one.”

Despite repeated calls for improvements, the Liberal government was determined to push ahead with a budget that fails Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

“People are still being forced to pay the Liberals’ controversial sugar tax, people are still paying out of pocket to see a nurse practitioner, and, shockingly, the Liberals refused to increase the NL Seniors’ Benefit by 20 per cent. And now, with an election looming, they’ve included the full $520 million from the tobacco lawsuit in this year’s budget—even though the settlement will be paid out over 30 years—just to make the books look better than they are. This clearly shows the Liberals are out of touch with reality,” added Wakeham.

“The people of Newfoundland and Labrador deserve better than a recycled budget that is full of half measures and neglects to meet their needs. They deserve a Progressive Conservative government that lowers their taxes, provides better healthcare, and makes communities safer for all of us,” concluded Wakeham.