Focus groups indicate no fear Tories will overspend, but little interest shown in fighting deficit

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty can’t yet lay claim to slaying the federal deficit but he might be able to take credit for vanquishing the public’s fear of government overspending.

Focus group research conducted for the Harper government before the last election shows that Canadians are not particularly concerned about the federal government running in the red.

Though deficits were thought politically toxic not so long ago, the focus group sessions found “no strong sense of concern” about them and that Canadians “were not looking for a quick fix to Canada’s budgetary deficit,” according to a report by research firm Ipsos Reid.

Rather, the report said, most participants in the groups favoured a gradual and steady return to balanced budget. There was little interest in aggressive deficit fighting by the government, the report said.

The findings suggest the Harper government has been given a pass by voters for taking surpluses left by Liberal governments and turning them into deficits, largely with billions of dollars of stimulus spending that began in 2008.

Vowing to stay the course, Flaherty on Friday told a parliamentary committee that his government was sticking to its plan to whittle the $40-billion deficit down to zero by 2014, despite calls for new stimulus spending after recent economic downturns elsewhere.

The focus groups contradicted a key element in the Tories’ economic approach, as participants showed little enthusiasm for corporate tax rate reductions and advised that strings should attach to any cuts to ensure big companies create jobs and stay in Canada.

Participants felt any money saved by corporations would end up in the pockets of shareholders or company executives.

The notion that corporate tax cuts would result in improved competitiveness was met with “a fair amount of cynicism,” though some participants reluctantly agreed, after further discussion, that cuts could help.

Most participants told moderators they believed the government’s centerpiece stimulus program, the Economic Action Plan, had “likely worked” and helped Canada weather the global economic crisis.

But they gave more credit to Canada’s banking regulations and its resource-based economy for insulating against the downturn.

The focus groups were conducted for the Privy Council Office in January and February, with sessions held in North Vancouver, St. John’s, Kitchener, Winnipeg and Quebec City.

Ipsos Reid was paid $76,348 for the work, government tendering records show.

Origin
Source: Ottawa Citizen