Budget has votes in mind
With an eye on a possible election, federal finance minister promises a little something for everyone today
Mar 19, 2007 04:30 AM
Les Whittington
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Today's federal budget is a Conservative pre-election battle plan that will show Canadians "the money" to back up Prime Minister Stephen Harper's bid to lay claim to middle-class voters.
Hot on the heels of Harper's gung-ho political rally in Toronto on the weekend, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will set the stage for a possible early trip to the polls by Canadians with a budget packed with spending, tax cuts and billions of dollars to fatten provincial government coffers.
Flaherty all but dared the federal opposition parties to try to bring down the government and force an election over his economic and fiscal package.
"If it turns out to be acceptable to the opposition, terrific," Flaherty said in Whitby yesterday. "If they decide they don't like it, the Canadian people will decide they like it, so I am feeling good about it.
"I think Canadian families would vote for it."
Harper and Flaherty – both of whom came to prominence as right-wing political figures – are engaged in a conscious strategy of shifting the Conservative party to the centre of the political spectrum in hopes of enlisting enough middle-of-the-road voters to win a majority in an election that some expect within months.
"I think all Canadians will find that in the budget they can see that their own direct needs" are taken into account, Flaherty told CTV yesterday.
"The middle-class families in Canada – the people that play by the rules and bear the brunt of the tax obligations in this country – will see that they're being represented."
Flaherty is scheduled to deliver the budget at 4 p.m. today in the House of Commons.
Insiders say Flaherty's policies have been designed with the possibility of an election foremost in mind. The budget's mix of social and environmental spending, plus middle-class tax cuts, is intended to break through the resistance to the Harper government shown in opinion polls, where Conservative support seems stuck around the 36 per cent level that only provided a minority win on Jan. 23, 2006.
In a speech to an upbeat Conservative gathering in Toronto on Saturday night, Harper outlined a new tactic: playing down the right-wing approach and positioning the party as the friend of the millions of uncommitted voters.
Despite the fact that the Conservatives maintain they are in no hurry to face the voters, Harper's political sabre-rattling on the weekend raised to new heights already intense speculation about an early election.
A defeat of the budget in the Commons would bring down the government and force an election.
But Harper's government, which holds 125 of the Commons' 308 seats, needs the support of only one of the three opposition parties to avoid a defeat on the budget. Observers doubt that the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois are keen to go to the people just now.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said Harper seems intent on an early election but the Liberals will only topple the government if the budget fails Canadians.
"If it's a budget that is not as good as we would like but, let's say, acceptable, not detrimental for the Canadian people, we may vote for it," Dion told CTV yesterday.
But if this year's budget, like the 2006 package, cuts environmental spending and money for scientific research while raising taxes for low-income Canadians, the Liberals will oppose it, Dion said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has also detailed criteria for winning his party's support.
"We want a budget that begins to invest in the things that the average family needs, and we've laid those out," Layton said.
The NDP has called for more funds for post-secondary education, a new federal minimum wage, increased child-care spaces, support for affordable housing, a national transit strategy, more money for cities and other priorities.
In an attempt to dispel fears that the Harper-led Conservatives are too right-wing, the budget will confirm the $13 billion in fresh spending that Harper and his ministers have spread across the country in recent weeks. The promised cash covers a wide range of commitments from the environment to crime prevention to public transit.
Another highlight will be a huge commitment of extra federal cash – probably about $3 billion – to the provinces, which have long complained that Ottawa takes too much of the national revenue pie and leaves provincial governments struggling to make ends meet. The money will give the provinces more to spend on post-secondary education, public transit and infrastructure such as bridges, sewers and roads.
It is expected to play a big factor in the March 26 Quebec election, where Liberal Leader Jean Charest has promised Quebecers that staying within Canada's federation will be more beneficial than going it alone as advocated by Parti Québécois rivals.
In today's package, Flaherty will commit to pay down at least $3 billion a year on the $480 billion national debt. And he has promised tax cuts across the income spectrum. In addition to an expected personal income tax break that will help all taxpayers, he has said he will give those at the lowest income levels a tax break intended to help them stay off social assistance. For upper-income Canadians, the Conservatives have promised to ease taxes on capital gains.
All this is possible because the Conservatives, like Liberal governments in recent years, find themselves with a lot more cash on hand than expected. The federal budget surplus for this fiscal year, forecast in the last budget to reach $3.6 billion, is expected to be in the $7 billion to $10 billion range.
The budget is also expected to contain:
$1.5 billion for an environmental trust to tackle climate change.
Pension income splitting for couples to reduce personal income taxes at a cost of $750 million to the federal government.
Legislation to entrench the so-called tax-back guarantee, worth about $800 million this year, that helps taxpayers share in the savings in interest payments achieved when Ottawa pays down the national debt.
Financial support for advanced scientific research and development.
Tax incentives to encourage business and homeowners to renovate to save energy, as well as incentives for buying energy-efficient vehicles.
More money for the provinces to create daycare spaces as the Conservatives adjust their child allowance program.
An increase in the age tax credit to provide savings for low- and middle-income seniors.
The tone of the budget is expected to echo the theme that was laid out by Harper in a recent speech in which he envisioned a "stronger, safer and better" Canada.
The Conservatives will also talk about the need to keep a lid on government spending. Last fall, on the same day that it was announced that the budget surplus in 2005-06 hit $13 billion, the government revealed plans to chop $1 billion in spending on social and cultural programs.
with files from Canadian Press
Mar 19, 2007 04:30 AM
Les Whittington
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Today's federal budget is a Conservative pre-election battle plan that will show Canadians "the money" to back up Prime Minister Stephen Harper's bid to lay claim to middle-class voters.
Hot on the heels of Harper's gung-ho political rally in Toronto on the weekend, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will set the stage for a possible early trip to the polls by Canadians with a budget packed with spending, tax cuts and billions of dollars to fatten provincial government coffers.
Flaherty all but dared the federal opposition parties to try to bring down the government and force an election over his economic and fiscal package.
"If it turns out to be acceptable to the opposition, terrific," Flaherty said in Whitby yesterday. "If they decide they don't like it, the Canadian people will decide they like it, so I am feeling good about it.
"I think Canadian families would vote for it."
Harper and Flaherty – both of whom came to prominence as right-wing political figures – are engaged in a conscious strategy of shifting the Conservative party to the centre of the political spectrum in hopes of enlisting enough middle-of-the-road voters to win a majority in an election that some expect within months.
"I think all Canadians will find that in the budget they can see that their own direct needs" are taken into account, Flaherty told CTV yesterday.
"The middle-class families in Canada – the people that play by the rules and bear the brunt of the tax obligations in this country – will see that they're being represented."
Flaherty is scheduled to deliver the budget at 4 p.m. today in the House of Commons.
Insiders say Flaherty's policies have been designed with the possibility of an election foremost in mind. The budget's mix of social and environmental spending, plus middle-class tax cuts, is intended to break through the resistance to the Harper government shown in opinion polls, where Conservative support seems stuck around the 36 per cent level that only provided a minority win on Jan. 23, 2006.
In a speech to an upbeat Conservative gathering in Toronto on Saturday night, Harper outlined a new tactic: playing down the right-wing approach and positioning the party as the friend of the millions of uncommitted voters.
Despite the fact that the Conservatives maintain they are in no hurry to face the voters, Harper's political sabre-rattling on the weekend raised to new heights already intense speculation about an early election.
A defeat of the budget in the Commons would bring down the government and force an election.
But Harper's government, which holds 125 of the Commons' 308 seats, needs the support of only one of the three opposition parties to avoid a defeat on the budget. Observers doubt that the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois are keen to go to the people just now.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said Harper seems intent on an early election but the Liberals will only topple the government if the budget fails Canadians.
"If it's a budget that is not as good as we would like but, let's say, acceptable, not detrimental for the Canadian people, we may vote for it," Dion told CTV yesterday.
But if this year's budget, like the 2006 package, cuts environmental spending and money for scientific research while raising taxes for low-income Canadians, the Liberals will oppose it, Dion said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has also detailed criteria for winning his party's support.
"We want a budget that begins to invest in the things that the average family needs, and we've laid those out," Layton said.
The NDP has called for more funds for post-secondary education, a new federal minimum wage, increased child-care spaces, support for affordable housing, a national transit strategy, more money for cities and other priorities.
In an attempt to dispel fears that the Harper-led Conservatives are too right-wing, the budget will confirm the $13 billion in fresh spending that Harper and his ministers have spread across the country in recent weeks. The promised cash covers a wide range of commitments from the environment to crime prevention to public transit.
Another highlight will be a huge commitment of extra federal cash – probably about $3 billion – to the provinces, which have long complained that Ottawa takes too much of the national revenue pie and leaves provincial governments struggling to make ends meet. The money will give the provinces more to spend on post-secondary education, public transit and infrastructure such as bridges, sewers and roads.
It is expected to play a big factor in the March 26 Quebec election, where Liberal Leader Jean Charest has promised Quebecers that staying within Canada's federation will be more beneficial than going it alone as advocated by Parti Québécois rivals.
In today's package, Flaherty will commit to pay down at least $3 billion a year on the $480 billion national debt. And he has promised tax cuts across the income spectrum. In addition to an expected personal income tax break that will help all taxpayers, he has said he will give those at the lowest income levels a tax break intended to help them stay off social assistance. For upper-income Canadians, the Conservatives have promised to ease taxes on capital gains.
All this is possible because the Conservatives, like Liberal governments in recent years, find themselves with a lot more cash on hand than expected. The federal budget surplus for this fiscal year, forecast in the last budget to reach $3.6 billion, is expected to be in the $7 billion to $10 billion range.
The budget is also expected to contain:
$1.5 billion for an environmental trust to tackle climate change.
Pension income splitting for couples to reduce personal income taxes at a cost of $750 million to the federal government.
Legislation to entrench the so-called tax-back guarantee, worth about $800 million this year, that helps taxpayers share in the savings in interest payments achieved when Ottawa pays down the national debt.
Financial support for advanced scientific research and development.
Tax incentives to encourage business and homeowners to renovate to save energy, as well as incentives for buying energy-efficient vehicles.
More money for the provinces to create daycare spaces as the Conservatives adjust their child allowance program.
An increase in the age tax credit to provide savings for low- and middle-income seniors.
The tone of the budget is expected to echo the theme that was laid out by Harper in a recent speech in which he envisioned a "stronger, safer and better" Canada.
The Conservatives will also talk about the need to keep a lid on government spending. Last fall, on the same day that it was announced that the budget surplus in 2005-06 hit $13 billion, the government revealed plans to chop $1 billion in spending on social and cultural programs.
with files from Canadian Press
