The government also brought in $245-billion of revenue, which means the federal government ran a deficit of $26.2-billion, or 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page said these “headline numbers” show that deficit is going down from $33.4-billion, or 2.1 per cent of GDP in 2010.
“The reduction in deficit reflects the ongoing economic recovery [which promotes revenue growth and lessens pressure on stabilizer programs like Employment Insurance] and federal efforts to restrain spending following the end of the stimulus program,” he said. “The year over year reduction in the federal budgetary deficit was largely consistent with projections from the Department of Finance and the PBO.”
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty (Whitby-Oshawa, Ont.), meanwhile, told The Canadian Press that this is a sign the government is doing what it’s supposed to be doing during this economic recovery.
“We’re controlling spending, that’s something the government of Canada has control over,” Mr. Flaherty said, noting that Ottawa can’t control others in the global economy.
Mr. Flaherty said he expects the government to continue on this path to reduce the deficit.
Mr. Page also said that the federal debt as a percentage of the GDP “stood relatively stable” at 33.8 per cent. “This is much higher than the pre-recession target of 25 per cent, reflecting the cyclical impacts of the 2008-09 recession and the two-year deficit-financed stimulus package implemented in the 2009 budget,” he said.
“Notwithstanding the increase in Canada’s debt to GDP ratio, government debt numbers for Canada compare favourably with other OECD countries and are projected to decline over the medium term.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Page said the public accounts “are transparent financial documents,” but are produced months after the end of the fiscal year and Parliamentarians need more information in order to do their jobs properly.
“They provide a necessary and important audit look on federal spending and revenues some 200 days after the end of the fiscal year. These documents do not replace the need for spending plans by federal departments and agencies,” Mr. Page told The Hill Times last week in response to questions about the public accounts Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) tabled recently in the House of Commons.
“Budget 2012 set out a fiscal objective of medium term fiscal balance including a freeze in direct program spending for six years,” said Mr. Page. “To date, Parliamentarians have not seen spending plans for departments and agencies consistent with this fiscal objective. Supplementary estimates B were tabled [last Thursday]. Once again, as with the main estimates and supplementary estimates A, Members of Parliament are being asked to approve spending authorities for departments and agencies without a published spending plan. This is wrong.”
Government departments cut spending by two per cent in 2011, according to the public accounts. Overall, federal departments spent $228-billion last year, down from $233-billion in 2010.
The Finance Department spent the most money last year at $84.5-billion, an increase of 0.47 per cent from the 2010 fiscal year. The Human Resources and Skills Development Department spent the second most at $48-billion, a 2.51 per cent decrease from 2010. National Defence spent $20.4-billion in 2011, an increase of 0.64 per cent from the previous year.
The biggest decrease in spending came from the Western Economic Diversification department which reduced spending by 58.14 per cent going from $466.5-million in 2010 to $195-million last year.
The Privy Council Office increased spending by 43.17 per cent, going from $396-million in 2010 to $567-million last year, predominantly because of the May 2011 election campaign.
Elections Canada spent $147,018,000 in 2010 and $349,352,000 in 2011. The funding for Elections Canada comes under the PCO. It cost $156,680,903 to run 41st general election.
The PCO department itself decreased spending 2.81 per cent. The Public Appointments Commission Secretariat, which the federal government scrapped in its most recent budget, had a decrease of more than half, having spent $294-million in 2010 and $135-million in 2011.
Parliament increased spending slightly last year, going from $561,354,000 in 2010 and $565,960 in 2011. The House of Commons spent a total of $427-million, of which $324-million was spent on personnel, $44.7-million on transportation and communications, $6-million on information, and $17.5-million professional and special services. The House also spent $10.7-million on rentals and $6.5-million on repair and maintenance.
The Northern Pipeline Agency, which is responsible for the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline, increased spending by 87.54 per cent last year. In 2011, it spent $2,108,000, up from $1,124,000 in 2010.
The only agency that had no increase or decrease in spending was Telefilm Canada, which spent $105,667,000 in both the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years.
The federal government spent $10.7-billion on “professional and special services,” which includes: business services; engineering and architectural services (including research); health and welfare services; informatics services; interpretation and translation services; legal services; management consulting; protection services; scientific and research services; special fees and services; temporary help services; training and educational services; and other services.
Federal departments spent the most in the engineering and architectural services category at $2.38-billion. Business services came in second at $1.8-billion across all departments. Departments spent $205,967,637 on temporary help services. These numbers are comparable to 2010 figures which show federal departments spent $10,694,525,523, a 0.18 per cent increase.
Meanwhile, the government spent $10,165,319 to send Canadian representatives to international conferences and meetings, the most expensive of which was Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) visit to Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Honduras at a cost of $1,169,390. The government spent $7,745,665 on international meetings in 2010, representing a 31.23 per cent increase last year.
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: Bea Vongdouangchanh
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