The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
By Roger Cathcart The Page and the Budget The sombre Canadian Senate is hardly a place for political protests of any scope. But one happened during the June 3 Throne Speech when Winnipeg-born Senate page Brigette DePape held up a "Stop Harper!" sign. The 21-year-old, who was mentored by Senator Sharon Carstairs, claims Harper's agenda is a disaster and that he should increase social programs and fight climate change. DePape was quickly escorted from the building and fired from her job, as she should have been. She will undoubtedly use the publicity for further protects but has certainly eliminated herself from any government or civil service job. The question is, how did she get a government job with her history of working with protest groups? Even Carstairs said her action was inappropriate. The Throne Speech and following budget was hardly a surprise as Harper now has the votes in the Commons to get his agenda passed. That agenda includes reforming the Senate with elections and term limits, and phasing out the per-vote subsidies for political parties, which is costing the taxpayers millions each year. As well, the government mentioned they will promote access to clean water on reserves, which is good news for the native population. There was also a promise to commit increased funds for health care to the provinces for years to come, with the provinces to be held accountable for the funds. The focus will be on reducing wait times Ð good news for patients. Lastly, the government pledged to commit to a parliamentary review of important decisions such as filling the two vacant positions on the Supreme Court. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's June 6 budget speech included everything from the budget that was rejected in March. It does include a few new things as well, such as a plan to find $4 billion worth of savings by 2014. Subsidies The phasing out of per-vote subsidies, which will be totally gone before the next election, will save $30 million a year and give party fundraising teams plenty of time to adjust. This will be a particular blow to the Greens and Bloc Quebecois, who have trouble raising any money from donors, and we will see what it does to the moribund Liberal Party. The NDP, with all of the new votes it garnered in 2011, should be okay, and the Conservative team led by Senator Jerry Grafstein should have no trouble leading the pack. Similar to the deal with Ontario and B.C. last year to harmonize the provincial sales tax with the GST, which saved considerable money, the Harper team offered Quebec a similar $2-billion-plus payment. That leaves only Manitoba, Saskatchewan and P.E.I. as the harmonized sales tax (HST) holdouts. We can be sure in Manitoba that there will be no action on this front until at least after the October election, as harmonizing means some items not presently taxed will become taxed. The failed March budget was a large part of the 2011 Conservative campaign. It includes a new 15 per cent children's art tax credit, up to $500 up to age 16; a 15 per cent family caregiver tax credit on $2,000 of eligible income beginning next year; Canada student loans erased up to five years for doctors and up to $20,000 for nurses who locate to underserviced communities; and a $50 increase per month for Canada's poorest seniors. There are a number of other incentives, including $5 million each for the 100th anniversaries of the Grey Cup and Calgary Stampede, $20 million for youth crime prevention campaigns, as well as $400 million to extend the Every Home Retrofit Program, plus other incentive programs. On the savings side, the Conservatives promised to slash spending by $4 billion per year for four years, which means a lot less money for federal departments and, of course, fewer civil service jobs. For example, the Bank of Canada has already cut 38 jobs and Defence will be down by over 2,000 by 2014. This is not unexpected, and should gain the approval of the overburdened taxpayer, whose taxes pay for most of these salaries. A review of the $80 billion in expenditures will be overseen by highly respected Treasury Board head Tony Clement, who will report details of the cuts in next year's budget. It is expected that some programs will be totally eliminated. Let's hope Tony does a good job. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.6/24/2011
