Canada's Federal Election 2015: The Official Thread

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
32,230
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petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
117,275
14,263
113
Low Earth Orbit
I can read.


Federal departments left $8.7 billion unspent last year

But federal departments and agencies also chipped in by handing back an estimated $8.7 billion for different programs that had been requested — and in some cases publicly announced — by the government and approved by Parliament.

Speaking at an event in Kamloops, B.C., Harper seized on the surplus to bolster his economic credentials heading into the second half of this year’s marathon election campaign. He dismissed concerns about the unspent billions, including whether the measures may have pushed the economy back into recession.

Last year’s lapse, as unspent federal funds are called, was anything but normal. The Conservatives’ own budget plan in April, which projected only a $7.2-billion lapse, said government spending through February was “well below the historical average.” Spending to that point was also “at the lowest level in a decade.”

Federal departments left $8.7 billion unspent last year | Ottawa Citizen
Nice. The anti-waste measure worked so what's your point?
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
193
63
Nakusp, BC
It is when it can't be spent on social programs.
EI is a social program.

Facebook 'likes': Are the Conservatives buying them?


Conservative Party won't confirm or deny whether it buys fans on social media


Such as the other day, when a friend on Facebook sent me a message asking me why I "liked" the Conservative Party of Canada.
I said I didn't know what she was talking about, and I really didn't. After all, I am a journalist, and I wouldn't publicly endorse any party, on Facebook, or anywhere else.
As a rule, I do not "like" anything, unless it's a picture of a real friend's children, say, on their first day of school, or something like that.
But after talking to our information technology support people, and checking my activity log, which I had never done before, there it was: Reg Sherren "likes" the Conservative Party of Canada, sent, I would assume, to my hundreds of friends on Facebook.

Facebook 'likes': Are the Conservatives buying them? - Politics - CBC News
 

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
32,230
47
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fake likes are from spurious spam accounts.

you'd see cliffy1, bigcliffy, clifford the dog etc liking harpo but not cliffy.

our tin foilly ceeb friend likely clicked on something shiny on zynga poker, a flashy spinning thingie on the interweb...because he's stupid. that or he fell for the ol' 'click here to see viewed your facebook profile' bit.

either way, he should learn to firefox and then learn to internet.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,817
471
83
Well now we know where the Cons got their phoney surplus.


5-year federal analysis of 'lapsed' spending lists top underspending departments

The department that delivers programs for Canada's indigenous people has held back more than $1 billion in promised spending for social services over the last five years.

The other "serial" lapsers in a top-seven list compiled by the Privy Council Office failed to spend all their budgeted money for infrastructure and procurement, including National Defence, while Aboriginal Affairs stands out as the only social-service department regularly falling so short of budget.

Other social-service departments have made headlines in recent months for significant dollar shortfalls in promised spending, including Veterans Affairs, which has underspent by $1 billion over a decade and Employment and Social Development Canada, which lapsed almost $100 million in 2013-14 alone.

In 2012-13, as the government's sweeping deficit-reduction cuts began to bite, total lapsed money hit a record $10 billion for all departments and agencies, or more than one of every 10 dollars budgeted, the analysis found.

The king of the lapsers is Infrastructure Canada, with an average of $1.5 billion unspent each year. The heavily censored document contains an explanation that is mostly blacked out.

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/politics/canada-election-2015-surplus-economy-1.3227146
 

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
32,230
47
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Norman Spector ‏@nspector4

With all eyes and pressure on #NDP, one journo has tough questions for Trudeau about the costing of *his* promises

Mirage libéral? | Le Devoir





Ezra Levant Verified account ‏@ezralevant

CBC had two columns ready to go depending on the news: “Budget Surplus, Harper Bad” & “Budget Deficit, Harper Bad”.

heh.