Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘budget’

Bribery money for Quebec, tokens to the environmentalists, money for families and small business incentives were some of the highlights of today’s spend-happy, tax-cuts-devoid federal budget, announced by Tory Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

The Bloc Quebecois banded together with the Tories to avoid a government collapse. But most people don’t believe this minority government will last more than a few months longer. A friend of mine was just hired by Elections Canada, so if you’re the betting type, you might want to put your money on spring or summer.

All that the Tories have managed to do with this budget is to legitimatize the Quebecois claim of a “fiscal imbalance” and to make an attempt at social engineering. The Tories seem to have forgotten their promises to balance the budget, cut taxes and grow the economy, preferring to tell people that they should drive greener cars, get married, have more babies, and own businesses that don’t grow too big. From a financial management perspective, based on initial impressions, I’d give it a D.

The key question is, will the extra $2.3 billion be enough to elect Jean Charest next week?

That’s the greater implication of this proposed blackmail by the Conservatives:

The Opposition Conservatives are willing to support the NDP’s $4.6-billion budget amendment, but only if the Liberals agree to delay same-sex marriage legislation.

The Liberals have the numbers to pass the budget even without Conservative support. So did the Liberals grow a backbone and tell the Tories to stuff it? Hah! Not exactly:

Reacting to word of the opposition offer, Prime Minister Paul Martin’s spokesperson Scott Reid said no deal had been struck.

“The government committed to make every effort without summarily cutting off debate and others’ views to get C-38 passed this session,” Reid said.

But, Reid added, actually getting the same-sex marriage legislation passed before Parliament rises may be out of the government’s hands.

“That remains our hope, but the fact of the matter is that if the Conservatives are determined to obstruct and filibuster, it may be difficult.”

In other words, they’re committed to the bill as long as it doesn’t make life too difficult for them. Oh yeah, that’s a strong stand.

Damian Penny thinks that the Tories have failed because they haven’t told Canadians in any clear terms what they stand for. I have to disagree. The Conservatives are making it blazingly obvious what they stand for: they have a single-minded obsession with gay rights that is trumping everything else on the agenda. Kate McMillan thinks the Tories need a three-syllable platform to win support. Well, how’s this for a three-syllable platform: “homophobes”.

Sadly, the Conservatives seem unable to get past being a single-issue party, and the Liberals seem unable to stand up to their blackmail. And of course, when auctioning off civil rights, minorities like Canada’s gay population are the first losers. Who will it be next?

Coming soon to a Canada near you: a de facto NDP government:

The NDP could seek a long-term agreement to prop up the Liberal government in exchange for a handful of concessions, party officials said Wednesday.

Fresh from winning $4.6 billion more for its priorities in return for helping the Liberals survive a confidence vote, the NDP is upping the ante and contemplating a more wide-ranging deal. The party inched closer to holding the balance of power in the House of Commons after this week’s Labrador byelection gave the Liberals another seat.

Some Conservative bloggers such as Damian Penny are lamenting the fact that the Liberals’ one usual saving grace – a balanced budget – will now be a thing of the past.

To all those who voted Tory and cheered the fact that the Liberals were reduced to a minority in the last election: starting to miss that Liberal majority government yet?

Once again demonstrating his perpetual spinelessness and willingness to do anything to hang onto power, Paul Martin struck a deal with Jack Layton, making “concessions” in exchange for an NDP promise to vote for the budget.

What sort of “concessions”? The usual NDP mixed bag. Deferring corporate tax cuts in favour of $4.6 billion in additional social spending for things like Aboriginal housing, the environment, foreign aid and the like.

That’s all besides the point, though. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the changes, the main thing here is that we have the party who came in dead last among the four major parties in the last election essentially dictating the federal budget. What’s wrong with this picture?

Is it just me, or are our politicians holding a contest these days for “most spineless”?

Martin may succumb to Layton’s blackmail by agreeing to defer corporate tax cuts in the federal budget in exchange for a promise for the NDP to support the budget:

The apparent concession came just hours after Prime Minister Paul Martin appeared to shut the door to NDP Leader Jack Layton’s demand that the cuts be scrapped. “We are prepared to discuss the possible deferral of the corporate tax measures,” the source said.

Martin’s fighting for his political life, so it’s obvious why he’s doing this. But the NDP doesn’t hold enough seats to prop up the Liberals if everyone else votes against. Martin will probably learn the hard way that Layton’s life raft is made of lead.

The embattled Charest government released its provincial budget this afternoon.

So-called “highlights” include tax cuts – which will basically give me an extra loonie a year – as well as small increases in spending for health and education. Overall this doesn’t seem too bad. The budget is balanced and avoids excessive spending increases in nonsensical areas. It’s the type of budget that will leave everyone whining for more, but was probably the most sensible course of action at this point for a government whose chances of re-election are somewhat smaller than the head of a pin: sensible, not overly political, and ultimately a real snoozer.

…a bunch of stuff happened.

For one thing, the Martin government released a federal budget, which was another snoozer. Lots of promises to everyone that will deliver not a whole helluvalot to anyone. By my calculation, the “massive tax cuts” promised will save me exactly $14 in income tax next year. That’s two movie tickets and a small popcorn on cheapy night. Yippee! The budget was designed with one purpose in mind: to keep the Liberals in power. Well, mission accomplished, I suppose.

From the maybe-yes-then-again-maybe-no department, Paul Martin has proven himself, in the grand tradition of Canadian leaders, to be incapable of making a decision if it might cost him a few votes. Martin has opted not to participate in the missile defence program with the United States, on the grounds that, well, it would give him bad press because of rampant anti-Americanism. Oh, and the NDP might use words like “Star Wars”. Everyone knows that Star Wars are scary. Especially “Attack of the Clones”. That was just awful.

Anyway, I don’t quite get it. And neither does Paul Cellucci:

“I personally don’t think it’s in Canada’s sovereign interest to be outside the room when a decision is made about a missile that might be coming toward Canada.”

Paul, Paul, Paul… haven’t you learned anything in your years as ambassador to Canada? It’s not that we’re not interested in defending our country. It’s that we Canadians have deluded ourselves into thinking that if we smile and are nice and polite to everyone and refuse to take a stand on much of anything, that nobody will ever attack us. As for those pesky terrorists, well, they’re mainly just misunderstood, and we’ll give them an immigration hearing in about 6 months.

Moving on. Syria might withdraw from Lebanon in response to massive public and international pressure following the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri… maybe. I guess the Syrians don’t particularly relish the thought that the ever-pervasive “End the Occupation” posters at ANSWER rallies might be directed against them, instead of against Israel. Of course, everyone knows that Baby Assad is really just stalling, hoping that the issue will blow over and the world can go back to merrily ignoring Syria’s sins and condemning Israel. That should happen in about 10 seconds, when the Israelis begin heightening security measures in reaction to today’s suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. If there’s one thing the Arab world can count on, it’s the rest of the world’s single-mindedness when it comes to Israel.

Finally, from the Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish department, Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel will finally be deported from Canada, after hanging out in a Toronto jail for the past couple of years, trying to fight extradition to Germany on the grounds that he would immediately be prosecuted there for hate crimes. Somehow, I can’t see anyone shedding any tears over his departure.

The latest Montreal megacity budget has tax decreases for most of the central and eastern portions of the islands… and tax increases for most of the West Island, including 14 of the 15 municipalities who voted to demerge.

Mayor Tremblay says it’s “not payback” for their votes to demerge… but the map rather belies that statement:

Mayor Gérald Tremblay said that the increases were not meant to punish the demerged boroughs, but were the result of the harmonization of municipal tax rates and the increase in the value of their properties.

What exactly is their justification for raising taxes across the West Island?

Executive Committee Chairman Frank Zampino said that part of the increase in costs is associated with new labour agreements and new responsibilities that have been transferred to the megacity.

You mean, the new labour agreements that were negotiated by unions made more powerful by the forced mergers, who held the city hostage? The same unions that actively campaigned against demergers? Nah, couldn’t be.

If the cities who voted to demerge weren’t sure they made the right decision, this ought to clinch it. The “not punishment” tax increases will last a year, and then the cities who voted to demerge can escape the iron grip of the megacity once and for all.

Paul Martin’s finance minister, Ralph Goodale, announced the Federal Budget today. And of course, the media began to immediately analyse, spin, and dissect it seventeen ways from Sunday.

So here’s my ten-second breakdown.

Healthcare: Mainly a provincial issue, but very little new money to help bail out the provinces. Instead of spending it on medicare or on, oh, important stuff like equipment, doctors and nurses, and patient care, the government’s gonna create yet another useless level of bureaucracy, this one to address “public health” (like the SARS crisis). Never mind that there are hundreds of times more people needing everyday healthcare. But it seems that there can never be enough levels of waste for the Libs.

Taxes: Breaks for small businesses and aid for venture capital financing. Both good things. Nothing much for big business (cause, of course, the Liberals can’t be seen to be getting too cozy with the devil). Oh, and a big chunk of cash to find “environmentally-friendly technologies”. I guess that’s the only way a Liberal government can fund business. Anyway the most important question is how much more of my own money will I get to keep on each paycheck. The answer? Not a whole helluvalot. Thumbs down.

National Debt: A commitment to pay it down considerably. This is good. The people don’t always see the debt as a priority, but reducing the debt means reducing interest payments, and that can only help the economy. Let’s see if the government keeps this promise. (Echoes of the “we will cancel the GST” promise sounding in anyone else’s ears?)

Defence: Peacekeeping only. Money for missions in Afghanistan and Haiti. Oh, and a throwaway gesture that says that troops don’t have to pay tax on earnings while deployed abroad. Nothing that could be perceived as Bush-cozying or war-mongering. Heaven forbid Canadian troops get planes that don’t need to be held together with duct tape!

Education: Also a provincial area. Textbooks are now deductible for students. And “learning bonds” to give minuscule amounts of money to low-income students… in about 18 years or so. That’s about it.

Stupid Liberal Wastes of Money: Refreshingly few. Of course, these are usually the small-ticket throwaways that may not have hit the headlines yet. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for a “multiculturalism fund” or a “help the CBC produce more aboriginal-related programming” fund increase. Excuse me while I roll my eyes.

Miscellany: Money for farmers hit by mad cow. Yeah, ok, that one sucked for them. And I certainly wouldn’t want to have to grow my own food, so I guess we can throw them some bones.

Overall: It’s balanced, so that’s good. It’s not excessive with a bunch of stupid spending to buy votes. So that’s also good. But not enough of the fat has been trimmed, and not enough of taxpayers’ money is being put back into taxpayers’ pockets. That about sums it up for me.

Update: Paul has a one-word summary of the budget: YAWN.

Is it just me, or is the “tax the rich more” mantra getting a little old to anyone else, too?

I’m tired of hearing that everything is the fault of “the wealthy” or “corporations”. I realize it’s easier to blame those we envy. I understand that “corporations” are widely perceived as the big, bad bogeymen and that, because we don’t identify faceless corporations with actual people, it’s simple for us to advocate raising their taxes. After all, it’s better than raising our taxes, right?

Sometimes I wish that – just once – a politician would have the courage to tell it like it is. That is, to say that, while, yes, rich people should pay more tax than poor people because they can afford it, there are limits. And that the flip side to over-taxation in the highest brackets or for corporations is a lagging economy and less jobs for the “little guy”. If instead of the faceless corporations, people saw the faces of the employees facing layoffs and unable to feed their families, people might see it differently.

Or maybe not. “Blame the rich” is just too tempting, isn’t it?