Photo: Contributed

With the unveiling of the 2017 federal budget, Central Okanagan Tory MP Dan Albas is challenging the Trudeau government's use of buzzwords.

“I would question their focus on new buzzwords such as super clusters,” he said.

Super clusters are described as a dense area of business activity that includes post-secondary institutions, companies, specialized talent and necessary infrastructure.

According to Albas, “super clusters do not help UBCO students” and “no one has been able to tell me what that is.”

Albas said the prime minister is continuing to nickel and dime Canadians.

“He has hiked taxes on Canadian families, small businesses, students, and today's budget confirms the prime minister broke his promise to keep deficit spending under $10 billion a year,” he said.

Increased sin taxes become effective Thursday and will put an additional $55 million from tobacco and $30 million from alcohol in government coffers in the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Albas recommend assistance to the local wine industry to help it expand, but did not see any update.

“All we see is taxes going up on beer and other alcoholic beverages,” he said. “There is nothing in the wine industry that shows they are going to help them expand their production.”

He did note that some money is being brought to Kelowna.

“There are some good things in there,” he conceded.