Well, today is the Liberal/NDP Non-Coalition Coalition Budget Day!

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Not only does the latest expansion of the social safety net by the Liberal government, as part of its accord with the NDP, intrude into areas of provincial jurisdiction, it flouts the wisdom of Lester B. Pearson.

During the comprehensive expansion of health care, welfare and pensions in the 1960s, the federal Liberals deferred to provincial needs and interests, by making Ottawa smaller and the provinces more self-sufficient.

Justin Trudeau prefers to strong-arm. The country will pay a price.


During the Second World War, Ottawa had “rented” from the provinces the authority over virtually all taxation. Twenty years later, the federal government still controlled much of that tax room. To secure provincial support for a national social safety net, Lester Pearson concluded that Ottawa should return a significant portion of its taxing power back to the provinces.

Mr. Pearson’s challenge was not so much to convince provincial premiers to sign on to his ambitious agenda, as it was to convince cabinet and the senior ranks of the public service that Ottawa should become smaller in the national interest.

He “had to convince many doubting colleagues,” Tom Kent, Pearson’s most senior aide, later wrote. But “the Prime Minister was fully convinced, and he was at his persuasive best.” Mr. Kent considered Mr. Pearson’s success in persuading ministers and deputy ministers to accept a tax-point-transfer from Ottawa to the provinces one of his greatest achievements.

After more than six years in office, Justin Trudeau has expanded the federal role in domestic policy in a way not seen in decades. On top of the carbon tax that he imposed on provinces that would not create their own, he has increased funding for mental health, and introduced a national child-care agreement, with Ontario this week becoming the last province to join. And now there will be new policies on dental care and pharmacare.

But unlike Mike Pearson, Mr. Trudeau fails to recognize that, if Ottawa is going to propose a new national policy, it must then equip the provinces to carry out that policy, preferably by ceding the necessary tax room, with expanded equalization for provinces that have weaker tax bases. Instead, he prefers the approach of direct federal transfers, with strict conditions attached.

This is both wasteful and hazardous. Wasteful, because provincial governments are the best judges of their priorities. They should not be dictated to by a federal government that – from Indigenous services to defence procurement – has proved itself incompetent in program delivery.

Mr. Trudeau’s heavy-handed approach will only increase resentments, both in Quebec and in the West. And those resentments will grow, when history repeats itself and the federal government reneges on its share of the funding responsibility.

This happened in the last century, when Ottawa cut provincial transfers in order to combat a dangerously high deficit. The deficit is dangerously high again.

Mr. Trudeau has pushed the federal government into places it does not belong, by either bribing or coercing provincial governments into doing his bidding.

This never works out well in the end. And it’s a lousy way to run this country.
 
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Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,131
7,991
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
Today is the day Justin & Jagmeet send out their Finance person with…something.
Well, here we are again after weeks of leaks about the upcoming budget…today is the day the NDP/Liberals are supposed to announce the rest of the budget that hasn’t already been leaked to the media.

Trudeau told reporters on Monday that a “big part of the budget” will be focused on measures to provide government subsidies in targeted ways, including benefits intended to offset the cost of groceries.

Meredith noted that the GST tax credit announced last year would probably be extended in the budget to help lower-income families, and that it is something that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has invested lots of time and energy promoting as part of his party’s non-coalition coalition with the Liberals.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to deliver a budget Tuesday that will offer limited cost-of-living relief to the vulnerable and promote green investments as uncertainty continues to cloud the economic horizon.

Freeland has warned Canadians that while the budget will offer investments in green energy to address the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, and targeted relief for those struggling with inflation and high interest rates, the cupboard is nearly bare.

If the Liberal budget Tuesday incudes a payout to low-income families to combat the price of groceries, the government will have substituted a one-time shiny object for actual relief.

The CBC reports the budget, “will include a grocery rebate measure aimed at lower income Canadians to help address the affordability crisis, particularly to mitigate the rising cost of food.”

Trudeau’s carbon price — rising by 30% on April 1 to $65 per tonne of emissions from $50 per tonne, on its way to $170 per tonne in 2030 — has no equivalent in the U.S. and it raises the price of almost all goods and services because almost all use fossil fuel energy.

Canada’s Liberal government is in a tight spot heading into the 2023 federal budget.

A year of surging prices and rising interest rates has put fresh stress on Canadian households struggling to make ends meet.

Chrystia Freeland, the government’s finance minister and deputy prime minister, has pledged that the 2023 budget will include “targeted” support to help vulnerable Canadians but will not “pour fuel on the fire of inflation.”
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
109,303
11,389
113
Low Earth Orbit
Well, here we are again after weeks of leaks about the upcoming budget…today is the day the NDP/Liberals are supposed to announce the rest of the budget that hasn’t already been leaked to the media.

Trudeau told reporters on Monday that a “big part of the budget” will be focused on measures to provide government subsidies in targeted ways, including benefits intended to offset the cost of groceries.

Meredith noted that the GST tax credit announced last year would probably be extended in the budget to help lower-income families, and that it is something that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has invested lots of time and energy promoting as part of his party’s non-coalition coalition with the Liberals.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to deliver a budget Tuesday that will offer limited cost-of-living relief to the vulnerable and promote green investments as uncertainty continues to cloud the economic horizon.

Freeland has warned Canadians that while the budget will offer investments in green energy to address the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, and targeted relief for those struggling with inflation and high interest rates, the cupboard is nearly bare.

If the Liberal budget Tuesday incudes a payout to low-income families to combat the price of groceries, the government will have substituted a one-time shiny object for actual relief.

The CBC reports the budget, “will include a grocery rebate measure aimed at lower income Canadians to help address the affordability crisis, particularly to mitigate the rising cost of food.”

Trudeau’s carbon price — rising by 30% on April 1 to $65 per tonne of emissions from $50 per tonne, on its way to $170 per tonne in 2030 — has no equivalent in the U.S. and it raises the price of almost all goods and services because almost all use fossil fuel energy.

Canada’s Liberal government is in a tight spot heading into the 2023 federal budget.

A year of surging prices and rising interest rates has put fresh stress on Canadian households struggling to make ends meet.

Chrystia Freeland, the government’s finance minister and deputy prime minister, has pledged that the 2023 budget will include “targeted” support to help vulnerable Canadians but will not “pour fuel on the fire of inflation.”
If they want to help the disadvantaged stop borrowing money off them and paying them back without interest 15 months later. Pay out all of the 2022 benefits in one shot and start the 2023 rebates quarterly and adjusted to inflation quarterly.
 
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Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,131
7,991
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
If they want to help the disadvantaged stop borrowing money off them and paying them back without interest 15 months later. Pay out all of the 2022 benefits in one shot and start the 2023 rebates quarterly and adjusted to inflation quarterly.
And dump the Carbon Tax, that our largest trade partner doesn’t have, so that we can at least become more competitive and keep those dollars in our pockets instead of getting nickels back in handout’s from Dollars collected in this tax.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
23,131
7,991
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
She should have went with a pair of crocs. I doubt those are carbon fiber composite heels.
This year she’s going with the “Disney+” model.
 
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petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
109,303
11,389
113
Low Earth Orbit
This year she’s going with the “Disney+” model.
She went to a high end boutique to buy shoes.

Why shoes? Shouldn't a linebacker be buying cleats?