FEDERAL BUDGET 2007: NOT AS BAD AS THE LIBERALS THINK
On Monday, the federal budget for 2007 was released under much speculation as to what it would consist of, who gets what, and who is left out. For those of you who don't know the federal budget lays down the spending plans for the government in the upcoming year. After its release the budget was immediately rejected by both the Liberals and the NDP.
The fact that the Liberals oppose this budget is not surprising, but the fact that the decided to reject it before they even knew what was in it is surprising. It's safe to say that they weren't going to like what was in it but to reject without even knowing what it was all about is irresponsible in my mind. The Bloc Quebecois are saying that they will support the budget which is all the support that the Conservatives are going to need to pass it. The BQ are supporting it because all of the money that is being given to Quebec, something like $3.2B which is close to the $3.9B they were looking for. Gilles Duceppes was right when he said that they would be stupid not to accept it.
There has been some criticism from the opposition parties, along with some members of the media, that this budget has no focus and that there is no sweeping changes being introduced. Okay, that may be true, but is that necessarily a bad thing. If you combine this year's budget with that of last year's you have a little bit of everything for everybody. There are some things that affect everybody like the 1% reduction in the GST from last year but for the most part we have a situation where there is money being spread out all over the place so that everybody is getting a piece of the pie. Some Liberals criticized the plan calling it a 'shotgun budget' meaning that it is spread out and doesn't specifically focus on one area. I still don't see that as a bad thing. The provinces are being offered a pretty good deal and it is a lot better of one than they would have got if the Liberals were still in charge.
Every group seems to be getting something from this budget whether you're talking about the provinces, seniors, students, farmers, the cities, national defence, or the environment among many others. Before the release of the budget many called this an 'election budget' that would be triggering an election but now it looks as if the budget will pass in the House of Commons. There are even some Liberal MPs who are not happy with Stephane Dion's decision not to support the budget. One such MP, Joe Comuzzi, has been kicked out of the Liberal caucus for his decision to support the budget because he was able to realize that this is a good budget and one that Canadians should accept. Comuzzi will probably be leaving the party now and either sit as an independent or jump ship to another party.
Before disregarding this budget altogether just because of what you hear on TV actually take a look at it. If you look at last year's budget and this year's budget together you realize the good it will do for you. I know personally when I was doing my taxes I was able to claim tax credits for my bus pass and my textbooks that I couldn't do before and even though a 1% cut on the GST doesn't seem like a lot, that is 1% on everything you buy for that year.
The budget will pass and it will not trigger an election. That doesn't mean that something else won't come along and put us in election mode but for now we will stick with a government we have had for 15 months now and has been doing a pretty good job.
- DCM
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