Canadian Budget surplus by 2015

[Bigerik]

The Conservative government brought in a new budget yesterday, with a reduced deficit, increased health care spending, cuts to the military, and closing many tax loopholes. The deficit is down sharply this year, with a balanced budget being planned for 2015, with surpluses in the following years. Our Conservative party, which is something slightly left of the Democrats in the US, is definitely handling the economy well.

Some highlights:

-$900 million in new spending, no new taxes or tax cuts
-$400 million in revenue from closed tax loopholes and enforcement
-Creation of a new Canada Job Grant next year to train workers
-New 10-year, $14.4 billion infrastructure fund starting in 2014
-$241 million over five years for First Nations skills training
-$1 billion over 5 years for aerospace industry and research
-Snitch line and rewards to catch international tax cheats
-CIDA wrapped into renamed Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
-Gas tax fund for cities to increase two per cent each year
-Tariffs eliminated for most imported sports goods, kids’ clothing
-For small business, extension of EI credit for new hires
-$119 million over five years to transition homeless off the streets
-"Super" tax credit to encourage young Canadians to donate
-Expanded tax credit for adoption-related expenses
-$8 million to refurbish Toronto's Massey Hall concert venue
-Sick leave on the table in public sector labour talks
-Refund for veterans’ funerals and burials doubled to $7,376

[Bigerik]

And as Canada is about a 10th the size of the US, increase all those numbers by a factor of 10 for the US equivalents.

[BlueStreak]

You mean they didn't just accuse the Canadian people of being lazy freeloaders, attack public sector unions and pillage their pension funds while threatening to abolish the national healthcare system so they can give tax cuts to people who don't need them by any stretch of the imagination and increase the graft going to defense contractors?

How is THAT supposed to work?

(Sarcasm)

Dave

[piece-itpete]

I think it's fantastic Erik, my congratulations.

Pete

[merrylander]

Great but why is the Bank of Canada playing with the dollar, they are cutting to my pension.

[barbara]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

You mean they didn't just accuse the Canadian people of being lazy freeloaders, attack public sector unions and pillage their pension funds while threatening to abolish the national healthcare system so they can give tax cuts to people who don't need them by any stretch of the imagination and increase the graft going to defense contractors?

How is THAT supposed to work?

(Sarcasm)

Dave

.............ha!!
Too funny!

[finnbow]

I'm sure Fox and Limbaugh will be reporting on this.

[Bigerik]

Just wanted to show you folks that there are other approaches to dealing with the economy. Nothing special about what we are doing, except kinda keeping our heads down and neither cutting stupidly, or spending like crazy. I think Ike would have gotten our approach, even if neither the Dems nor the TP/GOP do.

[Bigerik]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Great but why is the Bank of Canada playing with the dollar, they are cutting to my pension.

Move back to Canada and it won't matter.

[Bigerik]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

You mean they didn't just accuse the Canadian people of being lazy freeloaders, attack public sector unions and pillage their pension funds while threatening to abolish the national healthcare system so they can give tax cuts to people who don't need them by any stretch of the imagination and increase the graft going to defense contractors?

How is THAT supposed to work?

(Sarcasm)

Dave

Interestingly, the biggest discussion point is the effort by the government to go after the (wealthy) tax cheats who slip their money out of country. They figure they can recover $4.4 Billion over the next 5 years of tax money that has been illegally hidden from the Canadian government.