JJRousseau

So the PC bring out the biggest spending, bloated, money-for-all, centralist, populist budget Canada has ever seen and the Liberals don't support it???

Democracy will always fail because it will always be run by politicians.

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Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.

Sticky

Can anybody find a good article that outlines exactly what is in the budget?
I have to read about 10 articles to get it all.

Here is some of what I found (from teh Globe and Mail):

Personal Impact
- a new $2,000 child tax credit – a credit against taxable income for each child under the age of 18, regardless of income level. The credit, which will cost the government $1.45-billion in foregone tax revenue, works out to an annual saving on the income tax bill of $310 per child for most Canadian parents. (Only the lowest-income Canadians, whose taxes will be reduced to zero by other tax credits, will see no benefit from the program.)

- The budget also included an increase to the spousal credit available to couples with one primary wage earner, raising the credit for the dependent spouse to a maximum of $8,929 – the same amount as the primary wage earner's personal exemption. It will cost the government $270-million in foregone revenue in the current budget year to eliminate what Mr. Flaherty called “the marriage penalty” on single-earner families.

- The Working Income Tax Benefit – that dates back to a 2005 promise from the former Liberal government. This plan, aimed at encouraging the working poor to stay in the work force rather than turn to social assistance, provides a tax credit equal to 20 per cent of each dollar earned in excess of $3,000 for low-wage earners, up to a maximum of $500 per individual or $1,000 per family. The government pegged the annual cost of the benefit at $550-million.

- The government also followed through on its pledge to increase age credits for seniors and allow senior couples to split their incomes on their individual tax filings, which effectively reduces the tax burden on the higher earner.

- a $1,000 tax credit for employment expenses.

Absent
- tax cuts that would benefit all taxpayers – unlike last year
- relief on capital-gains taxes for investors, which the Tories promised in the last election.

Fiscal Imbalance

- Out of $3.2-billion in new transfers to all of the provinces this year, Quebec gets $919-million. And out of next year's $4-billion in new money, Quebec will get $1.1-billion.
$15.2-billion in transfers to Quebec this year and $16.3-billion next year, up from the current level of transfers of $12.9-billion. It's an increase of $5.7-billion in transfers over two years through rising equalization payments, increased health and social transfers, and new money for the environment, infrastructure and training.

Social Impact

- Canadians overwhelmingly want the Conservative government to spend on social programs rather than cut taxes in the budget Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivers Monday, a new poll has found.

I did not find much here

Health

- Human papillomavirus, the leading cause of cervical cancer, will be targeted with $300-million in vaccination funding announced yesterday by the federal Conservative government.

- reluctant provinces have been given more than $600-million to comply, even in a small way, with federal demands that they guarantee that certain medical treatments will be provided within clinically acceptable amounts of time.
There are more detials on this one

Environment

- varying rebates for consumers who buy fuel-efficient vehicles (and levies that penalize purchases of gas-guzzlers). The highest rebate available, $2,000, will go to hybrid vehicles including the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid -- and that's on top of the $2,000 rebate already offered by the Ontario government on similar vehicles.

- The budget imposes a special levy to be paid by manufacturers and importers of vehicles that can't travel 100 combined city-highway kilometres on less than 13 litres of fuel -- excluding pickup trucks and autos that use alternative fuels.

A Ford Grand Marquis will be dinged for $1,000, while dealers will see a $4,000 surcharge on each Hummer or BMW M5.

Business

- the government will phase out the accelerated capital cost allowance which allows oil sands producers to quickly write off the cost of their investment for income tax purposes.

The tax break was introduced by the Liberal government in 1996, when oil prices were low, in an effort to stimulate investment in the vast tar sands of northeastern Alberta. But with the crude price now hovering around $60 (U.S.), the Conservative government decided the tax break was no longer necessary.
Instead, it will be phasing in an accelerated capital cost allowance to promote investments in greener technologies, including so-called carbon capture and storage projects that would capture the greenhouse gas emissions from projects like the oil sands, and then bury those gases underground.

- the minister announced Ottawa will spend $60-million over the next two years to create a Major Projects Management Office, in order to streamline the regulatory approval process for major resources projects.

- Buoyed by the success of last year's removal of the capital gains tax when an investor donates stock to charity, the government is broadening that tax removal to the donation of stock to private foundations.



I am sure there is much more, just hard to find it all.

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Sticky The Stickman