Far from tempering spending cuts to ease the sting of recent political setbacks, the Conservative government intends to double down on fiscal austerity in the March 29 budget, cutting departmental spending across the board by closer to 10% than 5% and slashing the total operating budget by close to $8-billion, including a cut of at least 10% to the CBC.
The goal is to get the books back in balance a year earlier than previously planned, by fiscal 2014-15 — thus allowing the Conservatives to go into an election in the fall of 2015 with a balanced budget as the centrepiece of their campaign.
Until now the government has maintained it would cut between 5% and 10% across federal departments, with a goal of reducing spending by $4-billion out of a total operations budget of about $80-billion.
The CBC, which has an annual budget of $1.1-billion, faces a cut of at least $110-million and possibly more. Some Conservatives are pushing for even deeper cuts to the national broadcaster, based on the argument that, though the radio news service is clearly a must-have in the Far North and more generally in rural areas, CBC television is not as essential. On the immediate chopping block is a $60-million programming “top-up” that the broadcaster has received annually since 2001.
more
2012 Federal budget: CBC faces 10% cut as Tories double down on fiscal austerity | Full Comment | National Post
The goal is to get the books back in balance a year earlier than previously planned, by fiscal 2014-15 — thus allowing the Conservatives to go into an election in the fall of 2015 with a balanced budget as the centrepiece of their campaign.
Until now the government has maintained it would cut between 5% and 10% across federal departments, with a goal of reducing spending by $4-billion out of a total operations budget of about $80-billion.
The CBC, which has an annual budget of $1.1-billion, faces a cut of at least $110-million and possibly more. Some Conservatives are pushing for even deeper cuts to the national broadcaster, based on the argument that, though the radio news service is clearly a must-have in the Far North and more generally in rural areas, CBC television is not as essential. On the immediate chopping block is a $60-million programming “top-up” that the broadcaster has received annually since 2001.
more
2012 Federal budget: CBC faces 10% cut as Tories double down on fiscal austerity | Full Comment | National Post
