The province’s two opposition parties do not believe the 2025 budget does enough to address the issues many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are facing.

Even though the document largely focuses on education, NDP leader Jim Dinn, a former president of the NLTA, says government has failed to address numerous issues in the K-12 system, such as violence in schools and recruitment and retention.

Funds allocated toward early childhood education and post secondary also don’t go far enough to meet the need, according to Dinn.

He says government is missing the point, “education is not a budget line it is an investment in the future.”

Wakeham doesn’t see a lot of new initiatives in budget

PC Leader Tony Wakeham says most of what’s in the budget is “recyclable,” and re-announcements of initiatives.

Wakeham says when he analyzes a budget he looks for how items will affect people, and points to healthcare as an example.

He asks, for example, what the budget does for people who don’t have a family doctor right now – noting that government needs to have a healthcare human resources plan.