Banff-Airdrie MP Blake Richards has been left shaking his head over a federal budget he believes fails on all counts.

In advance of the budget, he consulted with his constituents on what they wanted to see. Richards says none of them were addressed.

"Without a doubt, people here wanted to see a government that would be more responsible with its spending. and they wanted to make life a little bit easier for those struggling to get by right now," says Richards.

"With inflation, with the cost of housing, with how difficult it is to afford the basics right now, I think they were looking for some help, whether it be tax relief, measures to help to deal with inflation, or cutting spending so inflation might go down. That's what I think people were seeking, and I think we've seen the complete opposite."

He says what we got was $56 billion in new spending, no decreases in taxes, and an approach to the housing crisis that is a band-aid solution. 

"That's why my Conservative colleagues and I demanded the budget fulfill three main objectives: a plan to control inflation, tax breaks for Canadians, and real action to increase housing supply and affordability."

He believes Canadians are facing record-high inflation because of years of irresponsible government spending. He's disappointed the extra tax revenue generated by inflation wasn't used to give taxpayers a break.

Richards says the Conservatives would have offered a much different budget.

"You would have seen a more responsible fiscal approach, not massive new spending. We would have made an effort to get that under control, and we would have seen an effort to make life a little more affordable for Canadians. We would have looked at ways to lower taxes, we would have looked at ways to incentivize the private sector to grow the economy."