Targeted spending, deficit reduction to highlight federal budget
Posted Mar 22, 2011 7:44 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Harper government will unveil the federal budget Tuesday.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is set to offer up a stay-the-course document, with a few enticements for the opposition.
The minority government’s sixth budget will also offer limited new spending initiatives.
In orchestrated leaks to the media, we’ve learned there are plans to entice more doctors and nurses to rural regions of the country. The ecoENERGY home Retrofit program will also be brought back at a cost of $400-million. Those are two demands made in pre-budget meetings by the NDP.
Flaherty is expected to focus on deficit reduction to balance the books by 2015 with an additional $3-billion in revenue this year to work with, as the economy has improved, generating more tax dollars.
The finance minister will also tout the job creation over the past year and the fact that Canada has the best debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7.
