OTTAWA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian federal government released its 2018-19 budget here on Tuesday with an emphasis on bringing more women into the workforce and more investments in indigenous communities.
Titled "Equality and Growth for a Strong Middle Class," the budget is set to take various measures to encourage women's participation in the workforce in sectors ranging from science to skilled trades in order to enhance productivity and to offset an aging population.
The 370-page budget also offers new cash to tackle the opioid crisis, cope with a surge in asylum seekers crossing the border from the United States, and improve living conditions for indigenous people.
Indigenous communities in the country will see an investment of nearly 4.7 billion Canadian dollars (3.7 billion U.S. dollars) over the next five years, in addition to dollars already earmarked in the previous budget. The money will be used to tackle long-standing problems such as infrastructure and social services.
Analysts said in the new budget, the government offers no direct response to uncertainty about the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the competitive corporate tax rate in the United States.
Canadian Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer was critical of the government's fiscal plan.
"(Canadian Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau promised he would spend money on infrastructure that would grow the economy over the long term, but the reality is that infrastructure investments are actually being cut, things like roads, and bridges, ports and highways," he told reporters after the budget was tabled.
