Laid-off auto worker Tracy Gignac in her Brampton, Ont., home on March 2, 2010.
Tracy Gignac, 32
City: Brampton, Ont.
Occupation: Laid off from job at Chrysler's auto plant in Brampton
Family status: Has a common-law partner and between them they have three children, aged eight months, 16 and 17
Does the budget make you feel more optimistic about your personal financial situation?
It’s hard to say. Because, I’m very skeptical. They claim to create more jobs. But if you look at the jobs they’ve created, they’re all insecure and part time. It doesn’t give any stability. Right now, where I’m sitting, I’m not spending money because I don’t know where it’s coming from. That certainly doesn’t stimulate the economy.
Will the budget change your life?
Personally, no. I’m laid off. I don’t know what my future brings. I guess it could, possibly, if some of that money being spent on education will help. The programs they’re funding don’t help me.
Are you getting the help from the government that you need?
Well, no. I don’t qualify for Second Careers. So re-schooling isn’t an option. My EI benefits have already run out. Honestly, if it weren’t for the benefits negotiated by my union, I’d be in big financial trouble.
How do you feel about the government’s ability to balance spending with the bruised economy and keeping the deficit in check?
I do sympathize with the position that they’re in. It’s going to be really hard to find a balance. I was shocked to see the wage freeze. A lot of people have faced the same thing.
Earlier questions:
How optimistic or pessimistic are you about the economy and your personal financial situation?
For me personally, I don't see our situation getting better within the year. As for the economy in terms of the country as a whole, I know the government is quite optimistic and they say we're in a turnaround, but I do a lot of work with the union trying to help people find jobs, and I have to say that I just don't see that they're out there.
In what area could you and your family use some financial help from the government?
Putting money back into our economy and creating jobs so that people have something to go to. The unemployment rate is high, and it doesn't seem as though the government is doing something to rectify that, other than short-term programs.
What's more important to you: keeping government money flowing into the economy to help create jobs and stimulate growth, or cutting government spending to reduce the deficit?
They're both important, but I think the first one leads to the second one. The more people you have working, the more people you have paying taxes.
What would your opinion be of a tax increase to address the deficit?
I don't think that would help at all. People aren't working or they're working part-time, and you're going to take more money out of their pockets?
Akinwunmi Ige, an accountant with Statistics Canada, at work in his apartment in Edmonton on March 2, 2010.
Akinwunmi Ige, 29
City: Edmonton
Occupation: Accountant with Statistics Canada
Family status: Single
Does the budget make you feel more optimistic about your personal financial situation?
You know, personally, it has its ups and downs. It’s a Conservative budget, you know? If we’re going the way it was in the past, the deficit would have increased.
Will the budget change your life?
I don’t think so. I only think my own personal effort will change it. Right now, you and I know that we are in a very difficult economic situation. It’s worldwide. I don’t think anybody is expecting the budget to change that.
Are you getting the help from the government that you need?
