Very good news.....

[Obvious Li]

too bad we're 170 billion farther in debt since the Cons took over.....the only positive thing is that if the liberals had been in it would have been 350 billion more....thank god for small mercies





[size=150]Flaherty says Ottawa will be in surplus in 2015, and 'not a tiny surplus'[/size]



Finance Minister Jim Flaherty addresses the media after a meeting with economists, saying the budget will be balanced by 2015.



Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press

Published Monday, October 28, 2013 10:57AM EDT



OTTAWA -- The federal government will not only balance the budget in 2015, it will run up a sizable surplus before the next federal election, says Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.



The minister made the pledge after meeting private-sector economists in his office Monday, and after the Parliamentary Budget Officer released his latest analysis of the books, showing a razor-thin surplus in the critical 2015-16 year.



"The plan is to budget a surplus in 2015 and not a tiny surplus," Flaherty said. "There will be no doubt that we're balanced in 2015."

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 The distinction is significant because Prime Minister Stephen Harper is counting on a balanced budget in March 2015 -- and preferably a significant surplus -- to fulfil a 2011 campaign pledge to introduce income splitting for couples with children in time for the October 2015 election.



The promise was contingent on having eliminated the deficit.



To explain the unexpected surplus projection, Flaherty noted that the government signalled in the throne speech two weeks ago it intends to freeze the operating budget, thereby restraining public-service hiring and pay increases.



The minister said his officials will inform the PBO on the savings the measure will realize, as well as discuss with the budget watchdog so-called "lapses" in departmental spending, "and we're talking substantial sums of money," the minister said.



Last week, Flaherty reported Ottawa had realized a $7-billion windfall in the just completed 2012-13 fiscal year, reducing the deficit to $18.7 billion, rather than the previously projected $25.9 billion.



Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/flaherty-says-ottawa-will-be-in-surplus-in-2015-and-not-a-tiny-surplus-1.1516562#ixzz2j4KorBqs">http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/flaherty ... z2j4KorBqs">http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/flaherty-says-ottawa-will-be-in-surplus-in-2015-and-not-a-tiny-surplus-1.1516562#ixzz2j4KorBqs

[Anonymous]

too bad we're 170 billion farther in debt since the Cons took over.....the only positive thing is that if the liberals had been in it would have been 350 billion more....thank god for small mercies






I am not interested in politics Mr. Obvious Li, but this is wonderful news..



A budget with a surplus as well as income splitting for families like mine..



Great news for Canadian families...we are so fortunate to live in this blessed country of ours.

[Obvious Li]

too bad we're 170 billion farther in debt since the Cons took over.....the only positive thing is that if the liberals had been in it would have been 350 billion more....thank god for small mercies






I am not interested in politics Mr. Obvious Li, but this is wonderful news..



A budget with a surplus as well as income splitting for families like mine..



Great news for Canadian families...we are so fortunate to live in this blessed country of ours.

[/b]



so true....however, it could be so much better if i were king........ :mrgreen:

[Anonymous]

too bad we're 170 billion farther in debt since the Cons took over.....the only positive thing is that if the liberals had been in it would have been 350 billion more....thank god for small mercies






I am not interested in politics Mr. Obvious Li, but this is wonderful news..



A budget with a surplus as well as income splitting for families like mine..



Great news for Canadian families...we are so fortunate to live in this blessed country of ours.

[/b]



so true....however, it could be so much better if i were king........ :mrgreen:

Yes, your business knowledge could be very useful to Canadians Mr. Obvious Li.

 :)

[Romero]

Before the Harper Conservatives inherited, in 2006, ten years of Liberal balanced budgets and robust surpluses, the last time a Conservative government actually balanced a budget for Canada was 101 years ago in 1912.



Now in Budget 2013, the Conservatives claim they'll eliminate their deficit by 2015. Isn't that convenient -- just on the eve of the next federal election! A close look at their financial plans provides ample reason to be suspicious. Here are seven of their fiscal tricks:



1. Rosy growth estimates

2. Deficient reserves

3. Exaggerated lapses

4. Excessive optimism about catching tax cheats

5. Big program cuts

6. Big tax increases

7. Claiming before proving



http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ralph-goodale/seven-conservative-tricks_b_3165144.html">//http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ralph-goodale/seven-conservative-tricks_b_3165144.html

Harper has been promising balanced budgets for years.

[Anonymous]

Before the Harper Conservatives inherited, in 2006, ten years of Liberal balanced budgets and robust surpluses, the last time a Conservative government actually balanced a budget for Canada was 101 years ago in 1912.



Now in Budget 2013, the Conservatives claim they'll eliminate their deficit by 2015. Isn't that convenient -- just on the eve of the next federal election! A close look at their financial plans provides ample reason to be suspicious. Here are seven of their fiscal tricks:



1. Rosy growth estimates

2. Deficient reserves

3. Exaggerated lapses

4. Excessive optimism about catching tax cheats

5. Big program cuts

6. Big tax increases

7. Claiming before proving



http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ralph-goodale/seven-conservative-tricks_b_3165144.html">//http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ralph-goodale/seven-conservative-tricks_b_3165144.html

Harper has been promising balanced budgets for years.

I hope they do and I like the idea of income splitting..



I read an editorial about it and it does seem appealing for families.

[Anonymous]

too bad we're 170 billion farther in debt since the Cons took over.....the only positive thing is that if the liberals had been in it would have been 350 billion more....thank god for small mercies






That is good news that the Tories are finally starting to govern like conservatives. I don't blame them entirely though as the they were a minority gov't for 5 years and they were forced into deficit situations by the opposition parties.



As for the history of serious structural deficits in Canada, they can be all traced back to Trudeau's disastrous economic mismanagement.

Trudeau's Conservative successor Brian Mulroney balanced Canada's operating budget after 1984. But to squeeze out Trudeau-era inflation, the Bank of Canada had raised real interest rates very high. Mulroney could not keep up with the debt payments. The debt compounded, the deficits grew, the Bank hiked rates again – and Canada toppled into an even worse recession in 1992. By 1993, default on Trudeau's debt loomed as a real possibility. Trudeau's next successors, Liberals this time, squeezed even tighter, raising taxes, and leaving Canadians through the 1990s working harder and harder with no real increase in their standard of living.

Trudeau's Conservative successor Brian Mulroney balanced Canada's operating budget after 1984. But to squeeze out Trudeau-era inflation, the Bank of Canada had raised real interest rates very high. Mulroney could not keep up with the debt payments. The debt compounded, the deficits grew, the Bank hiked rates again – and Canada toppled into an even worse recession in 1992. By 1993, default on Trudeau's debt loomed as a real possibility. Trudeau's next successors, Liberals this time, squeezed even tighter, raising taxes, and leaving Canadians through the 1990s working harder and harder with no real increase in their standard of living.



Do Canadians understand how many of their difficulties of the 1990s originated in the 1970s? They should.



To repay Trudeau's debt, federal governments reduced transfers to provinces. Provinces restrained spending. And these restraints had real consequences for real people: more months in pain for heart patients, more months of immobility for patients awaiting hip replacements.



If Canada's health system delivers better results today than 15 years ago, it's not because it operates more efficiently. Canada's health system delivers better results because the reduction of Trudeau's debt burden has freed more funds for healthcare spending. The Canadian socialist Tommy Douglas anticipated the Trudeau disaster when he said that the great enemy of progressive government was unsound finance.



Pierre Trudeau was a spending fool. He was not alone in that, in the 1970s. But here's where he was alone. No contemporary leader of an advanced industrial economy – not even the German Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt or the British socialist James Callaghan – had so little understanding as Pierre Trudeau of the private market economy. "Little understanding?" I should have said: "active animosity."

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/23/david-frum-the-disastrous-legacy-of-pierre-trudeau/">http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... e-trudeau/">http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/23/david-frum-the-disastrous-legacy-of-pierre-trudeau/

[Anonymous]

That is good news OL that the Tories are finally starting to govern like conservatives. I don't blame them entirely though as the they were a minority gov't for 5 years and they were forced into deficit situations by the opposition parties. Like him or hate him the Harper Tories are the best elected gov't of any G-7 nation. The JT Grits will prolly win the next election and claim the competant economic stewardship of Harper as their own.



As for the history of serious structural deficits in Canada, they can be all traced back to Trudeau's disastrous economic mismanagement.

Trudeau's Conservative successor Brian Mulroney balanced Canada's operating budget after 1984. But to squeeze out Trudeau-era inflation, the Bank of Canada had raised real interest rates very high. Mulroney could not keep up with the debt payments. The debt compounded, the deficits grew, the Bank hiked rates again – and Canada toppled into an even worse recession in 1992. By 1993, default on Trudeau's debt loomed as a real possibility. Trudeau's next successors, Liberals this time, squeezed even tighter, raising taxes, and leaving Canadians through the 1990s working harder and harder with no real increase in their standard of living.



Do Canadians understand how many of their difficulties of the 1990s originated in the 1970s? They should.



To repay Trudeau's debt, federal governments reduced transfers to provinces. Provinces restrained spending. And these restraints had real consequences for real people: more months in pain for heart patients, more months of immobility for patients awaiting hip replacements.



If Canada's health system delivers better results today than 15 years ago, it's not because it operates more efficiently. Canada's health system delivers better results because the reduction of Trudeau's debt burden has freed more funds for healthcare spending. The Canadian socialist Tommy Douglas anticipated the Trudeau disaster when he said that the great enemy of progressive government was unsound finance.



Pierre Trudeau was a spending fool. He was not alone in that, in the 1970s. But here's where he was alone. No contemporary leader of an advanced industrial economy – not even the German Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt or the British socialist James Callaghan – had so little understanding as Pierre Trudeau of the private market economy. "Little understanding?" I should have said: "active animosity."

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/23/david-frum-the-disastrous-legacy-of-pierre-trudeau/">http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... e-trudeau/">http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/23/david-frum-the-disastrous-legacy-of-pierre-trudeau/

[/quote]

[Romero]

It's the Conservatives who have been running deficits. The Liberals had balanced budgets and surpluses for ten years, and when the Conservatives returned to power it was back to deficits again. The Conservatives haven't balanced a budget in over a hundred years!



Harper makes the same claim every year. If Conservatives win the next election, they'll be making more excuses for not being able to balance the budget shortly after.

[Anonymous]

It's the Conservatives who have been running deficits. The Liberals had balanced budgets and surpluses for ten years, and when the Conservatives returned to power it was back to deficits again. The Conservatives haven't balanced a budget in over a hundred years!



Harper makes the same claim every year. If Conservatives win the next election, they'll be making more excuses for not being able to balance the budget shortly after.

Bullshit, Stephan Dion, the Dippers and the Bloc were prepared to bring down the minority Tory government for NOT running bigger deficits(stimulus). They deserve at least as much credit as the Tories for a return to deficits. The 2008/2009 recession deserves a big hand too.

[Romero]

It's the Conservatives who have been running deficits. The Liberals had balanced budgets and surpluses for ten years, and when the Conservatives returned to power it was back to deficits again. The Conservatives haven't balanced a budget in over a hundred years!



Harper makes the same claim every year. If Conservatives win the next election, they'll be making more excuses for not being able to balance the budget shortly after.

Bullshit, Stephan Dion, the Dippers and the Bloc were prepared to bring down the minority Tory government for NOT running bigger deficits(stimulus). They deserve at least as much credit as the Tories for a return to deficits. The 2008/2009 recession deserves a big hand too.

It's not bullshit, it's true! Sure, we can't blame the Conservatives for not balancing the budget during the recession, but what about the last hundred years? What about all the other years and years of promises?



I'll believe Harper when he finally accomplishes what he keeps promising.

[Anonymous]

It's not bullshit, it's true! Sure, we can't blame the Conservatives for not balancing the budget during the recession, but what about the last hundred years? What about all the other years and years of promises?



I'll believe Harper when he finally accomplishes what he keeps promising.

BULLSHIT!! Dion wanted more fucking spending or he would have pulled the plug on a newly reelected Tory minority government in the middle of an economic meltdown. Could you imagine how bad our deficit would be today if the Dippers and Bloc were allowed to get their greedy mitts on the public purse back in 2008? I don't usually agree with Harper's lack of fiscal conservatism, but our finances among the best of the G7 thanks to his steady hand at the wheel. Just be thankful we don't have those inept twirps Obongo or Hollande mismanaging our economy.