TORONTO—Ontario’s fiscal capacity is currently unable to support the investments that are required to meet the needs of Ontarians, according to the 2005 Ontario Alternative Budget (OAB).
Government finance
The Standing Committee on Finance of the House of Commons has commissioned four private forecasters to provide independent fiscal forecasting advice for members of parliament. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is one of those four forecasters.
This is the CCPA’s latest submission to the House Finance Committee. It provides an analysis of the 2005 federal budget, emphasizing our analysis of the changes in fiscal circumstances between the government’s last fiscal update (the Economic and Fiscal Update of November 2005) and the Federal Budget of February 2005.
You do not have to scratch too far below the surface of BC Budget 2005 before it looks an awful lot like an election platform. The lofty promises of 2001’s New Era platform have been recast as The Golden Decade. Is this budget just cynical electioneering?Like any pre-election budget, new spending is at the forefront, with a $1.5 billion increase over 2004/05. Most of this—about $1.1 billion—goes to health care and education. Unlike previous years, however, there are no cuts outside health care and education.
Inside this issue:
Beyond "Haves" and "Have-nots": A Closer Look at BC and Equalization
Memo to BC: Ontario learned the hard way
Olympics Reality Check
"What is wrong with you lefties?" asked the Economist of Considerable Renown. "That budget was a win for you."
In the immediate aftermath of the federal budget, I was still trying to come to terms with the logic of this apparently schizophrenic government document. What were the architects of this budget thinking?
"If this budget is such a godsend to the left," I asked the Economist of Considerable Renown," why is Conservative Leader Stephen Harper endorsing it?"
In a budget seemingly designed by public relations professionals and electoral strategists rather than public policy analysts, the Liberals have crafted a document that they hope will play on the sympathies of the left and the right.
But does this budget really have something for everyone?