XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ont.politics   
   XPost: ab.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   He 'off loads' responsibility that our tax dollars go towards federally   
   - onto the provinces.   
   And what do they do to make up the loss of funding from Harper?  Well,   
   the usual . . .   
   ______________________________________   
      
   Fri Sep 27, 2013   
      
   Canada shifts debt-reduction burden to provinces: budget officer   
      
      
   OTTAWA (Reuters) - A move by Canada's federal government to offload some   
   healthcare costs onto the country's provinces will leave provincial   
   governments facing ballooning debt unless they raise taxes or cut   
   spending, the parliamentary budget office (PBO) says.   
      
   The federal government is in good fiscal health after it introduced   
   broad spending cuts with the goal of eliminating its budget deficit by   
   2015, the PBO said in a report on Thursday on the long-term fiscal   
   sustainability of Canada's various levels of government.   
      
   The PBO, which was set up by the Conservative government in 2006, has a   
   mandate to provide independent analysis of Canada's finances to legislators.   
      
   "PBO's projection of net debt suggests federal debt is on track to   
   achieve the government's G20 (Group of 20) commitment to a debt-to-gross   
   domestic product ratio of 25 percent by 2021," the report said.   
      
   Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the target at the Group of 20   
   summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, earlier this month. Canada ran 11   
   straight years of budget surpluses before the 2008-09 financial crisis,   
   and Harper is eager to balance the books again before the next election,   
   scheduled for October 2015.   
      
      
   CHANGE IN TRANSFERS   
      
   Ottawa expects a deficit in the 2013-14 fiscal year of C$18.7 billion   
   ($18.2 billion), or 1 percent of GDP.   
      
   But in a controversial move in 2011, the Conservatives announced a   
   change to the way the federal government transfers funds to the   
   provinces to cover the country's universal, publicly funded healthcare   
   system.   
      
   Transfers have been growing by 6 percent a year and will continue to do   
   so until 2016-17, but after that they will increase in line with average   
   growth in nominal gross domestic product, which is expected to be lower.   
      
   The budget office said the change to the so-called Canada Health   
   Transfer "has transferred the fiscal burden to provinces and territories".   
      
   "PBO estimates that the debt path of other levels of government is not   
   sustainable and will continue to rise, reaching 359.9 percent of GDP by   
   2087," it said.   
      
   The PBO defines a government's debt as sustainable if the debt-to-GDP   
   ratio is projected to return to its current level over a 75-year   
   horizon, taking into account pressures from an aging population and   
   other considerations.   
      
   The fiscal gap of other levels of government - lumping together   
   provinces, territories, municipalities and aboriginal governments - is   
   1.9 percent of GDP, it estimated. That means these governments combined   
   would have to increase revenues, reduce spending or a combination of   
   both by C$36.2 billion this year to set their finances on the right   
   track, the report said.   
      
   A spokeswoman for federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty defended the   
   transfer policy, saying Ottawa's payments would continue to increase   
   every year to record levels.   
      
   "Our government has announced long-term, stable funding arrangements   
   with the provinces that will see health transfers reach historic levels   
   of C$40 billion by the end of the decade," spokeswoman Kathleen   
   Perchaluk said.   
      
   The PBO report did not single out individual provinces. Ontario, the   
   most populous provinces, is one of the most indebted. Other major   
   economic players Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia have also been   
   tackling deficits in recent years.   
      
   Ontario ran a deficit in the 2012-13 fiscal year of C$9.2 billion,   
   according to the latest official figures. That is expected to widen to   
   C$11.7 billion in 2013-14. Ontario's Liberal government has pledged to   
   balance the budget by 2017-18.   
      
   Susie Heath, press secretary for Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa,   
   said provincial finances are moving in the right direction and that   
   total government spending decreased last year for the first time since 1996.   
      
   "And we have exceeded all deficit reduction targets for the last four   
   years, the only jurisdiction in Canada to achieve this level of   
   success," Heath said.   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)