The Official Opposition Finance Critic condemns the timing and priorities of the provincial government’s affordability plan. Trent Wotherspoon says, the NDP has been calling for affordability relief for months, and the $500 cheques to be mailed this fall won’t help as much as the rise in taxes, fees, and utility rates will hurt, because they will continue past the $500 mark.

He suggests the $500 is a fraction of the increases in household expenses since the budget was tabled in the spring. Wotherspoon points to some families facing $200 lunchroom fees, and next year residents will pay hundreds more for their utilities alone. He also notes that despite receiving nearly $62 million months ago in surgery funding from the federal government, none has been allocated to deliver these services.