Federal Budget 2010

Budgets are about choices. Every day, Canadians make decisions about how to spend their money based on their priorities. On March 4th, the Federal Government presented its choices.

Budget 2010 outlines the spending and policy priorities of the Conservative Government for the coming years. Their proposal calls for significant spending on corporate tax cuts for already profitable businesses, but contains very little to help Canadians working to recover from the economic recession.

The Budget in Brief: What it Means for You

We've created the following section to help unravel this 450-page document and present the highlights and lowlights of this government's spending choices. the following is a quick overview of budget measures as they apply to a variety of issues: The Harper government’s 2010 Budget unveiled plans to cut its record high deficit ($54 billion) in half in two years and reach a surplus by 2015. The second half of Canada’s Economic Action Plan ($19 billion) will be injected in the economy in 2010. To help you figure out what the Budget means and how it will affect you directly, here are some of the key announcements from the Budget.



Taxes shift from corporations to Canadians and future generations

Despite the Finance Minister’s promise that the Budget would not include tax cuts, the Government will lose an additional $20 billion in revenues during the next five years due to corporate income tax cuts. The Budget confirms Harper’s tax strategy of driving the country deeper into debt so it can give tax cuts to profitable corporations - $21 billion worth since 2008 and $60 billion worth by the time they are fully implemented in 2014. During that same period the Government, by its own reckoning, will add $162.4 billion to the public debt, $60 billion more than the 10 previous years of surplus erased.

While corporations receive a free pass on contributing to the country’s financial recovery, the Government will take a big chunk out of the pockets of Canadian workers. Over the next four years, Mr. Harper plans to rake in over $19 billion dollars more in EI premiums than he pays out. He plans to use that payroll tax to pay down the debt his corporate tax cuts helped create. Budget 2010 reveals the Government’s plan to use personal income taxes for more than four times as large a share of its revenues in future as the contribution of corporate income tax. This is clear evidence that taxes will shift from corporations to workers and employers (often small and medium-sized businesses).

Jobs and Employment

The 2010 Budget is entitled Leading the Way on Jobs and Growth. While there is funding for a few youth programs, the only new funding specifically for jobs is a temporary extension of the worksharing program by 26 weeks. To date, Canada’s Action Plan has created 135,000 of the expected 220,000 jobs announced in 2009. While the government has said it will continue with its stimulus spending, failure to get money to communities because of the slow roll-out of infrastructure funding jeopardizes the Government’s promise to create jobs.

The Environment

Budget 2010 is overwhelmingly negative on the environmental front. It contains no action to fight climate change and no plan to create green jobs, focusing instead on facilitating and accelerating the extraction of oil and gas. Responsibility for conducting environmental assessments for energy projects will be delegated from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The Budget does not renew the popular and successful ecoENERGY for Renewable Power program. This follows the Government’s intention to cut $52 million from Environment Canada’s budget and $100 million from Natural Resources Canada’s budget over three years. The Budget also fails to extend the response to the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation in British Columbia.

The cap on foreign aid spending at 2010-2011 levels will likely impact Canada’s willingness to pay its fair share of the $10-billion-a-year international fund agreed upon at Copenhagen to assist poorer countries in reducing emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

The few environmental programs featured in the Budget include a $100 million over four years investment to advance clean energy technologies in the forestry sector. The popular ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program also received an additional $80 million. It also provides $8 million per year to protect the Great Lakes.

Women and Children

The Budget proposes to change how the Universal Child Care Benefit is taxed for single parents so that they can qualify for $168 more per year. While this is a step in addressing the flaws of the Benefit program, there is no indication that daycare spaces will be created. The Budget contains an encouraging focus on missing and murdered Aboriginal women but it is not yet clear how the $10 million promised will be spent.

Pensions

The Budget completely overlooks the pension crisis. The only thing worth noting in the Budget is a promise to pursue public consultations.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis

The Budget offers anticipated and welcomed support for Aboriginal Peoples. It promises to invest $285 million over two years for Aboriginal Health Programs, $30 million in First Nations education, $10 million over two years to address violence against women as well as additional funds for the Residential School Agreement. While the Budget could bring about support for Aboriginal peoples, some organisations have stated that the appearance of good will can only be confirmed when the details are unveiled.

Accountability

The Budget also included an important announcement of an independent civilian oversight body for the RCMP. This form of transparency was called for in Nathan’s Private Member’s bill C-472. As Nathan said: “We’ll have to wait for the details but I’m glad that this Government has finally come around on this issue. I hope this means we will get real independent oversight for the sake of our citizens and of our police force.”