THE CANADIAN PRESS -- OTTAWA - Cash for Quebec and a lump of coal for their political rivals are the only new elements Conservatives have dished up in a reprised federal budget that mirrors the one delivered barely two months ago.
Armed with a majority mandate, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is forging ahead with a 2011 budget larded with low cost boutique tax breaks, modest pension help for the poorest seniors, and a vow to slay the deficit within four years.
New to the spending blueprint is $2.2 billion for Quebec as an inducement to finalize full harmonization of the provincial sales tax and with the federal GST. The budget also includes a commitment to phase out the $2-per-vote public subsidy received by all federal political parties -- a measure that will leave parties almost fully reliant on private donations.
"A month ago the people spoke," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told the House of Commons in a brief budget speech.
"Through their democratic power they clearly signaled the need for a principled, stable government at this challenging but promising moment in our nation's history."
Flaherty's budget speech referred again and again to the voter endorsement -- and snidely noted that MPs who "took the time to read the March budget" won't find anything surprising in the new document.
Among the fiscal changes since the March 22 budget, Canada's deficit for last year has been revised downward to $36.3 billion from $40.5 billion. But this year's red ink has been revised upward to $32.3 billion from $29.6 billion.
Full Article
Source: Huffington
Armed with a majority mandate, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is forging ahead with a 2011 budget larded with low cost boutique tax breaks, modest pension help for the poorest seniors, and a vow to slay the deficit within four years.
New to the spending blueprint is $2.2 billion for Quebec as an inducement to finalize full harmonization of the provincial sales tax and with the federal GST. The budget also includes a commitment to phase out the $2-per-vote public subsidy received by all federal political parties -- a measure that will leave parties almost fully reliant on private donations.
"A month ago the people spoke," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told the House of Commons in a brief budget speech.
"Through their democratic power they clearly signaled the need for a principled, stable government at this challenging but promising moment in our nation's history."
Flaherty's budget speech referred again and again to the voter endorsement -- and snidely noted that MPs who "took the time to read the March budget" won't find anything surprising in the new document.
Among the fiscal changes since the March 22 budget, Canada's deficit for last year has been revised downward to $36.3 billion from $40.5 billion. But this year's red ink has been revised upward to $32.3 billion from $29.6 billion.
Full Article
Source: Huffington
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