OTTAWA – The revised federal budget is affordable and should be passed in the House of Commons, Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) economists said in an assessment released today.
Saying that the revised budget, which includes changes negotiated with the NDP, goes further to meet real social needs than the budgets of recent years, the economists urged Parliament to judge the new federal budget on its merits, register its shortcomings for future action and put partisan interests aside.
Government finance
TORONTO—“It’s not often that a government facing fiscal problems leads into its budget by declaring proudly that it intends to ignore the fundamental cause of those problems, but that’s exactly what Ontario’s Premier and Minister of Finance have done this year.”
That’s the conclusion of an Ontario Alternative Budget Technical Paper released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on the eve of the McGuinty Government’s second budget, scheduled for release on May 11.
BC’s economy is a lot like a rollercoaster ride. Commodity prices for our resource exports (like energy, forest and mining products) go up and down over the years, and our economic fortunes lurch along for the ride. This is especially true in BC’s “heartlands”. While the current economic upswing masks differences, BC actually has two economies: the diversified and populous Greater Vancouver and Victoria areas, and the rest of the province, which continues to be highly vulnerable to the resource rollercoaster’s ups and downs.
This study builds on analysis originally published in Bleeding the Hinterland: A Regional Analysis of BC's Tax and Spending Cuts.
(Vancouver) Provincial taxation and spending policies have worsened the gap between BC’s two economies — the diversified Lower Mainland and Victoria areas, and the more resource-dependent ‘hinterland’ regions. Soutwestern BC received a skewed share of income tax cuts, while subsequent tax increases and spending cuts have hit harder in the regions. For most communities, the value of income tax cuts has been largely offset, or eliminated altogether, by tax increases and lost income from government downsizing.
So there is an agreement in principle between the Liberals and the NDP. In return for helping to prevent this government from falling before it can even get the 2005 Budget passed, the NDP has extracted promises of about $4.6 billion in new spending, plus a roll-back of future tax cuts for big business.
Inside this issue:
BC Budget 2005: A Missed Opportunity
Who Benefits? Revisiting BC’s Income Tax Cuts
The $150 Million Question: What Does New K-12 Funding Mean For BC’s Schools?
Is the Province Equipped to Tackle the Pine Beetle’s Long-term Impact?
BC’s Economic Recovery: The Role of Commodity Prices