Prospect of deficit threatens Conservative government’s best laid plans | Toronto Star.
TTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government faces a roller-coaster ride in the coming months as it tries to balance Ottawa’s books and implement a lavish program of family-oriented tax cuts and spending in advance of an election.
The Conservatives have been saying 2015 will be the year they end seven years of consecutive budget deficits and bring in billions of dollars worth of goodies for voters in keeping with promises made in the last election in 2011.
But the linchpin of this strategy — running a budget surplus — has been thrown into doubt by the sudden, unexpected plunge in world oil prices.
