When federal Finance minister Jim Flaherty brought down his federal budget recently in the House of Commons, he jokingly began, "Now as I was saying in March ", as if he had merely been interrupted mid-sentence.
In some ways, this was accurate, as he did indeed get to introduce the budget, but unfortunately it never went to a vote, as the then-minority Conservative government then fell (supposedly on a "contempt of Parliament" charge), sending us to the federal election.
The then-opposition leaders, such as the now-deposed Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, clearly were off in their estimation of the Canadian public's mood or preferences, as all they did was get the Conservatives a majority, and the Liberals and Bloc ended up decimated while the NDP made history to reach the position of Official Opposition with the most seats they've ever held in Parliament.
The result is also that Flaherty was able to reintroduce his budget pretty much verbatim as the first time, with a couple of notable differences.
One, the Conservatives clearly see the value of keeping Quebec happy while maintaining their position within confederation. Since the separatist Bloc was basically run out of Parliament, they weren't replaced with Conservatives but largely with the NDP - thus their resurgence.
With the eye to the next election, the government is providing some $2.2 billion towards their efforts to harmonize the sales tax (HST) in their province. Doubtless, the Quebec government and people will be thankful for this; it should also be noted that this wasn't offered to any other province, most notably B.C., which is attempting to have their sales taxes harmonized as well.
The Conservatives are also vowing to get back to balanced budgets a year earlier than first announced, by 2014. If accomplished, this will definitely be a good and prudent move to make.
However, it also begs the question where the axe will fall, as it is evident some billions of dollars have to be found in savings over the next few years. Unless some certain services are being lost, where else will this money come from?
In terms of things like tax breaks, there doesn't seem to be any move to change those, so some government services and positions are likely to get cut; can it be done without hurting the vulnerable and poor? We will have to watch and find out.
