Budget expected to address main Tory priorities
Mary Nersessian, CTV.ca News Staff
With the Harper minority government's first budget just days away, speculation is swirling fast and furious on what the document will contain and what it will leave out.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's famous five priorities are a clear indicator, analysts have said, of Canadians can expect.
Harper has said his main goals include cracking down on crime, trimming the GST, giving families a childcare allowance, reducing hospital wait times, and increasing accountability in government.
But there are also hints that the government's key economic document will include cash for the military, spending on justice reforms, money for foreign aid, and public transportation.
Because of the unexpectedly strong performance of the economy over the past 12 months, the Tories find themselves awash in cash, with the latest forecasts suggesting the federal surplus could be anywhere from $9 billion to $13 billion.
Despite the surplus, federal government officials have hinted the Harper government is mulling deep cuts to help cover its election promises.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty recently appeared to be warning there could be some disappointments as the Conservative government puts the clamps on spending.
"One of our major commitments was to restrain the rate of spending growth in government and we intend to keep that commitment." Asked if Canadians would feel the pain, Flaherty said, "Well, there's going to be -- I mean, pain's a relative term, I suppose."
The major spending announcements Harper pledged during his campaign include: $5.3 billion for the military, $2.5 billion for farmers, $2 billion for transit pass tax credits, $2 billion for highways and border improvements and $9.5 billion for a child allowance.
The Tories also promised $44 billion in tax cuts. To cover these cuts, Harper said the government would rein in spending to save $22.5 billion over five years.
The Conservatives, who are considering a U.S.-led effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions rather than the international Kyoto accord ratified under a previous Liberal government, are also widely believed to be planning cuts to programs designed to fight global warming.
According to media reports, Harper's Conservatives are dipping into last year's budget surplus for $3.3 billion, most of which is going to the provinces to establish five new third party trusts.
The trusts would make money available to the provinces for spending on post-secondary education (up to $1 billion), affordable housing (up to $800 million), public transit (up to $900 million), northern housing (up to $300 million) and off-reserve aboriginal housing (up to $300 million).
The fifth trust remains unconfirmed, but is expected to be for foreign aid, as that is the only portion of Bill C-48 not covered by the other trusts.
The provincial cash was dispersed across the five separate trusts under a deal quietly negotiated by Harper's government in March.
The Conservatives are transferring the cash using the same budget mechanism crafted by the Liberals last year in Bill C-48 to win temporary NDP support in Parliament.
When they were in opposition, Harper and the Conservatives fiercely fought the Liberals on the legislation, which allows the government to spend surplus cash from one fiscal year in the following year.
The objective, it appears, is to make good on Conservatives' campaign commitment to address the fiscal imbalance among the provinces by sharing Ottawa's riches.
"I trust the early actions . . . will assist in addressing some of the pressures your government is facing," Flaherty wrote in a March 24 letter to Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan obtained by The Globe and Mail.
While Liberal finance critic John McCallum welcomed news of the trusts, in the House of Commons he accused the Conservatives of "flip-flopping" on their position.
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Mary Nersessian, CTV.ca News Staff
With the Harper minority government's first budget just days away, speculation is swirling fast and furious on what the document will contain and what it will leave out.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's famous five priorities are a clear indicator, analysts have said, of Canadians can expect.
Harper has said his main goals include cracking down on crime, trimming the GST, giving families a childcare allowance, reducing hospital wait times, and increasing accountability in government.
But there are also hints that the government's key economic document will include cash for the military, spending on justice reforms, money for foreign aid, and public transportation.
Because of the unexpectedly strong performance of the economy over the past 12 months, the Tories find themselves awash in cash, with the latest forecasts suggesting the federal surplus could be anywhere from $9 billion to $13 billion.
Despite the surplus, federal government officials have hinted the Harper government is mulling deep cuts to help cover its election promises.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty recently appeared to be warning there could be some disappointments as the Conservative government puts the clamps on spending.
"One of our major commitments was to restrain the rate of spending growth in government and we intend to keep that commitment." Asked if Canadians would feel the pain, Flaherty said, "Well, there's going to be -- I mean, pain's a relative term, I suppose."
The major spending announcements Harper pledged during his campaign include: $5.3 billion for the military, $2.5 billion for farmers, $2 billion for transit pass tax credits, $2 billion for highways and border improvements and $9.5 billion for a child allowance.
The Tories also promised $44 billion in tax cuts. To cover these cuts, Harper said the government would rein in spending to save $22.5 billion over five years.
The Conservatives, who are considering a U.S.-led effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions rather than the international Kyoto accord ratified under a previous Liberal government, are also widely believed to be planning cuts to programs designed to fight global warming.
According to media reports, Harper's Conservatives are dipping into last year's budget surplus for $3.3 billion, most of which is going to the provinces to establish five new third party trusts.
The trusts would make money available to the provinces for spending on post-secondary education (up to $1 billion), affordable housing (up to $800 million), public transit (up to $900 million), northern housing (up to $300 million) and off-reserve aboriginal housing (up to $300 million).
The fifth trust remains unconfirmed, but is expected to be for foreign aid, as that is the only portion of Bill C-48 not covered by the other trusts.
The provincial cash was dispersed across the five separate trusts under a deal quietly negotiated by Harper's government in March.
The Conservatives are transferring the cash using the same budget mechanism crafted by the Liberals last year in Bill C-48 to win temporary NDP support in Parliament.
When they were in opposition, Harper and the Conservatives fiercely fought the Liberals on the legislation, which allows the government to spend surplus cash from one fiscal year in the following year.
The objective, it appears, is to make good on Conservatives' campaign commitment to address the fiscal imbalance among the provinces by sharing Ottawa's riches.
"I trust the early actions . . . will assist in addressing some of the pressures your government is facing," Flaherty wrote in a March 24 letter to Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan obtained by The Globe and Mail.
While Liberal finance critic John McCallum welcomed news of the trusts, in the House of Commons he accused the Conservatives of "flip-flopping" on their position.
Page 1 , 2 , All
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