Home » Posts tagged 'budget surplus'

Tag Archives: budget surplus

Olduvai
Click on image to purchase

Olduvai III: Catacylsm
Click on image to purchase

Post categories

Post Archives by Category

Federal Surplus Comes with Social Costs, Critics Say

September 16, 2015

Federal Surplus Comes with Social Costs, Critics Say

Number of government departments ‘lapsing’ budgets up from 10 years ago: CCPA.

If Canadians want to see how the federal government managed to reach a surplus for the 2014-15 fiscal year, they should think of veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and other wounds, said veterans’ advocate Tom Beaver.

The Conservative government ran a surprise $1.9-billion budget surplus last year, its first since 2008. The surplus has been attributed in part to government “lapses” in spending, in which departments do not spend their full allotted budgets for the year.

Veterans like Beaver have complained a $1.1-billion lapse in spending over several years at Veterans Affairs could have been used to keep department bureaus open across the country, or to help vets who were wounded in the line of duty.

The government has also changed its lifetime pension payments for wounded soldiers to lump-sum payouts, and that has resulted in a court battle.

Beaver said news of the surplus feels like a slap in the face, and the government shouldn’t lapse spending in needed departments. “The [Conservatives] could have had more money if they didn’t spend thousands fighting veterans in the courts,” he said sarcastically.

Beaver said he knows the money didn’t only come from veterans, but from Canadians in general.

On Monday, the Ottawa Citizen reported the government underspent by $8.7 billion in total across government departments last year.

Lapses increased since 2008: CCPA

David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said there’s nothing new about spending lapses, but their frequency has increased since the 2008 financial crisis and ensuing stimulus.

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

 

Joe Oliver Looks On The Bright Side Of Low Oil Prices

December 15, 2014

Joe Oliver Looks On The Bright Side Of Low Oil Prices.

Increased consumer spending and additional money for savings are two of the benefits to lower oil prices, federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver has told CBC News, sounding a reassuring note about how plummeting oil prices will affect the Canadian economy.

Oil prices have dropped dramatically this fall, with the West Texas Intermediate price dropping below $58 US on Friday for the first time in more than five years.

The cost for a barrel of oil is more than $10 less than the estimate used by finance officials to put together the department’s projections in Oliver’s fall 2014 economic update last month.

The prices are also far below the estimates used by finance officials nearly two years ago, when the 2013 budget predicted a barrel of oil would be worth $96 in 2015 and trending up to $97 a barrel in 2017.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Olduvai IV: Courage
Click on image to read excerpts

Olduvai II: Exodus
Click on image to purchase

Click on image to purchase @ FriesenPress