XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, ont.politics   
   XPost: sk.politics, man.politics, mtl.general   
   From: puela@nyet.ca   
      
   Prorogation . . . .  silencing of opponents by defunding them . . . .  a closet   
   for the Prime Minister to hide in . . . .  and now a delay of a federal budget   
   that isn't looking so healthy . . .   
      
   If there's one thing the Harper government has become exceptional at doing,   
   it's HIDING from angry Canadians and truths that would make them look bad.   
   Really bad.   
   __________________________________   
   Postmedia News | National Post  -  January 18, 2015   
      
      
   NDP blasts Harper government’s ‘desperate’ plan to delay budget ‘in   
   hopes oil   
   prices might recover’   
      
      
   NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen is urging the Conservative government to   
   reconsider postponing the federal budget until April, saying “desperately   
   delaying — in hopes oil prices might recover — is no substitute for   
   balanced   
   economic planning.”   
      
   When that budget is tabled, the NDP would like to see $15-a-day daycare and a   
   gradual move toward $15-an-hour minimum wage as part of it.   
      
   Cullen released the NDP’s wish list on Sunday for the federal budget in   
   response to Finance Minister Joe Oliver’s request for input into the budget.   
   Last week, against the backdrop of plummeting oil prices, Oliver announced that   
   the budget would be delayed until April because of market instability.   
      
   “It think they hit the panic button. This was not their plan,” said Cullen.   
   “But I don’t think hiding under the covers and hoping things get better is   
   what   
   Canadians expect.”   
      
   There are few surprises in Cullen’s letter. The NDP want the Conservative   
   government to scrap its income-splitting plan.  “This handout to the wealthy   
   few would leave regular Canadians falling further behind and must be   
   scrapped.”   
     The letter makes no mention of multibillion-dollar increases in child tax   
   credits also introduced recently by the government, something the NDP have said   
   they would keep.   
      
   The NDP has made reducing childcare costs to no more than $15 a day a day focus   
   of its platform.  Cullen said the first phase-in the subsidized childcare   
   spaces would cost significantly less than the income-splitting plan and would   
   create jobs and revenue by encouraging people to return to the workforce.   
   Cullen said there would be a $1.50 to $2 return to the government for every   
   dollar spent on the childcare plan.   
      
   He said the “weakening labour market and falling revenue” make it more   
   imperative to implement policies that help families make ends meet while   
   boosting economic growth.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)