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There is something fundamentally wrong when major policy
decisions are made solely on the basis of getting a political party re-elected.
We’ve seen it in Ontario, i.e. the gas plant closure, and
now Harper’s cynical budget proposals – a sort of whistling while Rome burns.
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The much-delayed
federal budget will finally be released later this month but what can
Canadian taxpayers expect?
A
general election is scheduled for October – if not sooner –and traditionally,
the pre-election budget is a sweet treat for voters from a government hungry
for their support.
But
tanking oil prices have left Finance Minister Joe Oliver with a fairly bare
cupboard this year.
The
message from most is: Don’t expect much on April 21st.
“He’s
already answered the big question, which is will the budget be balanced,” Aaron
Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, tells Yahoo
Canada News.
The
federation applauds the promise of a budget in the black following seven years
of deficit spending.
Wudrick
hopes there is no massive new spending.
“It’s
an election year. In an election year, governments of all stripes are tempted
to spend lots of money because they see it as a way to curry favour right
before a vote,” he says.
“We
hope they resist the temptation to do that.”
Much already announced
Much already announced
Prime
Minister Stephen Harper has already announced what are likely the only goodies
to be expected.
In
October, Harper
unveiled the Family Tax Cut, a tax credit worth up to $2,000 for
couples with children under the age of 18.
An
eleventh-hour fulfilment of the income-splitting
promised in the last election campaign, the Family Tax Cut allows one
spouse to transfer up to $50,000 of taxable income to a spouse in a lower
income tax bracket.
Harper
also announced increases to the Universal
Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Expense Deduction.
The
Universal Child Care Benefit will jump from $100 a month for children under age
six to $160 a month, and parents will now be able to claim $60 a month for
children aged six to 17.
The
Child Care Expense Deduction jumps from $7,000 to $8,000 and the Children’s
Fitness Tax Credit doubles, to up to $1,000 a year...More
See Also:
http://gerry-stopthebull.blogspot.com/2014/07/tales-from-nanny-nation-part-ii-baby.html
http://gerry-stopthebull.blogspot.com/2014/06/tales-from-nanny-nation.html
http://gerry-stopthebull.blogspot.com/2014/10/news-from-nanny-state-uncle-toms-5b.html
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