I find it fascinating that a budget I believe is far too liberal in spending could possibly be rejected by those on the left, but the fact is that there were bound to be disappointments. A long list of union and political leaders have already weighed in, and there are many Canadians who look at that great big $78.3 billion spending spree and wonder why they didn’t get enough. That’s human nature. When there’s a free-for-all giveaway, it’s natural to get a little preoccupied in self-interest. Former NDP MLA cum mayor of Vancouver, Gregor Robertson, “said it was a disappointment the Harper government didn’t commit more funding to housing and transit.” More funding? Just what “more” do people want? If you want to see more spending, buy a plane ticket to the United States.
The Liberals are tight-lipped about what will happen tomorrow, but if we’re to believe Dan Arnold, it will probably pass. I can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t pass inspection from the Liberals, excepting the fact that they didn’t get a chance to release this themselves. But, as they say, the devil is in the details. As Terence Corcoran puts it: “The words “shovel” and “ready” do not make it into the Finance Minister’s budget speech and appear only once in his massive 360-page budget plan. That’s where restraint ends, however. Otherwise, there’s a shovel on almost every page.”
Granted, this is a very cursory and superficial summary, but here is some commentary on some of the budget details:
Employment Insurance: Increasing the amount of time people don’t have to find a job doesn’t seem to be a real form of stimulus. 45 weeks, the previous maximum, was 315 days out of 365 that a person could remain unemployed. The new limit of 50 weeks brings E.I. recipients 15 days shy of being on governmental assistance for a year. I would have liked to see E.I. left alone, except slash the two-week waiting period and make it easier for people to collect by scaling back restrictions.
Tax Cuts: Welcome changes to personal exemptions, and including help for parents. Help for seniors with age credit. This is the best part of the Conservative budget.
Housing: A home renovation fund? That’s ridiculous. The tax exemptions for first-time homebuyers sounds allright, though I don’t know how this relates to stimulus either. As far as social housing, from what I’m reading, it helps if you’re a “low-income” senior, aboriginal, or disabled. The bulk of the money [$1 billion] is going into energy retrofits instead of simply building affordable housing.
Infrastructure: I “get” the green infrastructure idea, but half a billion for recreation centres? Does this mean we’re going to go into deficit so we can have swimming pools and skating rinks? And this pertains to “stimulus”… how? Most of the infrastructure projects sound like a brainstorming session from the coalition. I mean, half a billion dollars on encouraging people to access our health care information online! Half a billion for a train nobody uses!
Business and Communities: Bailouts for the foresty industry are unfortunate but understandable. Half a billion for farmers. $110 million into “robotics” and “space technologies” as “stimulus”. $60 million for “community cultural and heritage institutions such as local theatres, libraries and small museums.” $30 million to Canadian magazine and newspapers. Because they’re Canadian, I guess. Stimulus for “New Media”, tourism, Parks and campgrounds, historical sites. The list of waste goes on and on, and almost none of it related to staving off the recession.
One of the things that worries me the most is the so-called “increasing access to credit for small businesses through proposed
amendments to the Canada Small Business Financing Program and the Business Development Bank of Canada.” It might work. Then again, it might create conditions not unlike in the south where banks are forced to lend to risky businesses.
Regional Stimulus: Southern Ontario gets a billion all to itself. The North gets $50 million and $90 million more for a government program that tries to develop economic “strategy”. A government program designed to score business in the North. This is what qualifies as “stimulus”.
The Red Ink:
2008-09: -$1.1 billion
2009-10: -$33.7 billion
2010-11: -$29.8 billion
2011-12: -13.0 billion
2012-13: -$700 million
Total five year deficit: $78.3 billion
