nicetommy
Active Member
With election looming, PM pledges tax cuts as government racks up $13.8 billion surplus
Sep 28, 2007 04:30 AM
Les Whittington
Ottawa Bureau
TorontoStar Article
The federal government has a $13.8 billion budget surplus and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is promising income tax cuts, but there is apparently no extra money to help cash-strapped Toronto.
In an extraordinary move, Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty came to Toronto to release the annual financial report of the federal government, showing that the surplus will be $4 billion higher than projected.
They promised more tax cuts – as a federal election seems imminent – and said $14.2 billion has been paid down on the national debt, now at $467.3 billion.
But when asked if any money might be given to Toronto, which is facing a budget crisis and is considering new taxes and service cuts, Flaherty said there was no need.
He rhymed off a long list of measures meant to help Toronto. He said the reduction in the goods and services tax brought in by the Conservatives will save Toronto consumers an estimated $400 million. And the city will get an extra $50 million this year as its share of gasoline taxes.
Ottawa has committed hundreds of millions of dollars for other projects in the GTA, Flaherty said.
Asked if the contrast between the overflowing federal treasury and Toronto's budget woes would emerge as an issue in the campaign for the Oct. 10 Ontario election, Flaherty replied, "I doubt it."
That's because the Harper government already responded to complaints of lack of funding from Ontario, he said, when it promised $39 billion over seven years in extra cash for Canada's provinces.
But Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty and even Flaherty's provincial ally, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, weren't buying it.
McGuinty said it "doesn't make sense" that the federal government continues to rack up large surpluses while Ontario and its cities struggle to stay out of red ink.
"Ontario is getting less than its fair share," he said while campaigning in southwestern Ontario, referring to things like employment insurance and transit funding.
McGuinty said the province is still waiting to hear from Ottawa on whether it plans to kick in money for the province's plans to spend $17.5 billion for public transit in the GTA and southern Ontario.
He said the federal government has still failed to address the employment insurance inequities.
"It takes longer for an unemployed worker in Ontario to qualify for benefits than workers in other parts of Canada and when they do qualify they get on average $4,000 less than a worker in Alberta for example. It doesn't make any sense," McGuinty said.
"The fiscal imbalance has not yet been completely addressed," Tory said after a luncheon speech.
"I don't think the issue's quite put to bed yet" when taxpayers are supplying governments with "more than enough money, but it's not getting to the right places."
Tory said cities, farmers and public transit are all desperate for more investment from senior levels of government.
But Flaherty noted that Ontario, which is running a budget surplus itself, has benefited greatly from the extra cash the Harper government committed in March to help repair the so-called imbalance between the financial resources available to Ottawa and those available to provinces.
The federal Tories, who once berated previous Liberal governments for running larger-than-expected budget surpluses, pulled in $13.8 billion more from taxpayers than Ottawa spent in the 2006-07 fiscal year that ended March 31, Harper revealed. It was $4 billion more than the government predicted in May.
Harper and Flaherty portrayed it as a win for taxpayers, holding out the promise of future income tax cuts by a cash-rich Conservative government.
Harper and Flaherty said any savings in interest payments on the $467 billion national debt would be passed on to taxpayers under the "tax back guarantee" introduced in the March budget. But that approach, which critics have derided because it might provide tax savings of only $30 a year for average taxpayers, is just the beginning, Flaherty said.
"Stay tuned because there's more to be done on the personal taxation side," the finance minister told the media.
Pledges of hefty, across-the-board income tax cuts are likely to figure prominently when the Harper government lays out a new agenda, and a possible election campaign platform, in the Speech from the Throne on Oct. 16.
But all three opposition parties are indicating that they will likely not support the speech, and will vote down the government, possibly on Oct. 18, prompting an election for late November or early December.
As they ready for a possible election, the Conservatives are positioning themselves as capable economic managers at a time when Canadians are facing mounting concerns about jobs, the health of manufacturing, the impact of a skyrocketing Canadian dollar and other issues.
Harper brushed aside a question about why the Conservatives were recording massive budget surpluses of the kind they once criticized when previous Liberal governments did it. The Tories, Harper argued, are more careful about how they spend the money than the Liberals were.
When Flaherty was asked why the Conservatives chopped $1 billion worth of social programs over the past year when it was headed for a $13 billion budget surplus, he said the government wants to eliminate what it sees as ineffective or outdated projects. "When we're looking at focused spending in government, we're looking at doing exactly that," the finance minister explained.
NDP Leader Jack Layton joined the pre-election sparring yesterday, saying he couldn't abide a government that runs up huge budget surpluses when it could be using the money to help Canadians.
"Mr. Harper used to believe in democracy. He used to believe in accountability," Layton said. "Now he believes in doing what the Liberals did: pile up the money in surprise surpluses, and pay down the debt without any consultation with Canadians about their priorities."
Sep 28, 2007 04:30 AM
Les Whittington
Ottawa Bureau
TorontoStar Article
The federal government has a $13.8 billion budget surplus and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is promising income tax cuts, but there is apparently no extra money to help cash-strapped Toronto.
In an extraordinary move, Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty came to Toronto to release the annual financial report of the federal government, showing that the surplus will be $4 billion higher than projected.
They promised more tax cuts – as a federal election seems imminent – and said $14.2 billion has been paid down on the national debt, now at $467.3 billion.
But when asked if any money might be given to Toronto, which is facing a budget crisis and is considering new taxes and service cuts, Flaherty said there was no need.
He rhymed off a long list of measures meant to help Toronto. He said the reduction in the goods and services tax brought in by the Conservatives will save Toronto consumers an estimated $400 million. And the city will get an extra $50 million this year as its share of gasoline taxes.
Ottawa has committed hundreds of millions of dollars for other projects in the GTA, Flaherty said.
Asked if the contrast between the overflowing federal treasury and Toronto's budget woes would emerge as an issue in the campaign for the Oct. 10 Ontario election, Flaherty replied, "I doubt it."
That's because the Harper government already responded to complaints of lack of funding from Ontario, he said, when it promised $39 billion over seven years in extra cash for Canada's provinces.
But Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty and even Flaherty's provincial ally, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, weren't buying it.
McGuinty said it "doesn't make sense" that the federal government continues to rack up large surpluses while Ontario and its cities struggle to stay out of red ink.
"Ontario is getting less than its fair share," he said while campaigning in southwestern Ontario, referring to things like employment insurance and transit funding.
McGuinty said the province is still waiting to hear from Ottawa on whether it plans to kick in money for the province's plans to spend $17.5 billion for public transit in the GTA and southern Ontario.
He said the federal government has still failed to address the employment insurance inequities.
"It takes longer for an unemployed worker in Ontario to qualify for benefits than workers in other parts of Canada and when they do qualify they get on average $4,000 less than a worker in Alberta for example. It doesn't make any sense," McGuinty said.
"The fiscal imbalance has not yet been completely addressed," Tory said after a luncheon speech.
"I don't think the issue's quite put to bed yet" when taxpayers are supplying governments with "more than enough money, but it's not getting to the right places."
Tory said cities, farmers and public transit are all desperate for more investment from senior levels of government.
But Flaherty noted that Ontario, which is running a budget surplus itself, has benefited greatly from the extra cash the Harper government committed in March to help repair the so-called imbalance between the financial resources available to Ottawa and those available to provinces.
The federal Tories, who once berated previous Liberal governments for running larger-than-expected budget surpluses, pulled in $13.8 billion more from taxpayers than Ottawa spent in the 2006-07 fiscal year that ended March 31, Harper revealed. It was $4 billion more than the government predicted in May.
Harper and Flaherty portrayed it as a win for taxpayers, holding out the promise of future income tax cuts by a cash-rich Conservative government.
Harper and Flaherty said any savings in interest payments on the $467 billion national debt would be passed on to taxpayers under the "tax back guarantee" introduced in the March budget. But that approach, which critics have derided because it might provide tax savings of only $30 a year for average taxpayers, is just the beginning, Flaherty said.
"Stay tuned because there's more to be done on the personal taxation side," the finance minister told the media.
Pledges of hefty, across-the-board income tax cuts are likely to figure prominently when the Harper government lays out a new agenda, and a possible election campaign platform, in the Speech from the Throne on Oct. 16.
But all three opposition parties are indicating that they will likely not support the speech, and will vote down the government, possibly on Oct. 18, prompting an election for late November or early December.
As they ready for a possible election, the Conservatives are positioning themselves as capable economic managers at a time when Canadians are facing mounting concerns about jobs, the health of manufacturing, the impact of a skyrocketing Canadian dollar and other issues.
Harper brushed aside a question about why the Conservatives were recording massive budget surpluses of the kind they once criticized when previous Liberal governments did it. The Tories, Harper argued, are more careful about how they spend the money than the Liberals were.
When Flaherty was asked why the Conservatives chopped $1 billion worth of social programs over the past year when it was headed for a $13 billion budget surplus, he said the government wants to eliminate what it sees as ineffective or outdated projects. "When we're looking at focused spending in government, we're looking at doing exactly that," the finance minister explained.
NDP Leader Jack Layton joined the pre-election sparring yesterday, saying he couldn't abide a government that runs up huge budget surpluses when it could be using the money to help Canadians.
"Mr. Harper used to believe in democracy. He used to believe in accountability," Layton said. "Now he believes in doing what the Liberals did: pile up the money in surprise surpluses, and pay down the debt without any consultation with Canadians about their priorities."
