XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, mtl.geneal   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   And that, folks, is exactly how a lying, duplicitous government finds they have   
   "a surplus budget" going into an election year.   
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   Postmedia News | October 30, 2014   
      
      
   Ottawa holds back $7-billion in approved spending, as Tories mull tax cuts   
      
      
   The federal government held on to more than $7 billion in approved spending   
   last fiscal year at the same time as some departments and agencies struggled   
   with a lack of funds – bringing total “lapsed” spending to more than $18   
   billion over the last two years.   
      
   The Conservative government continues to sit on billions of dollars in planned   
   spending as it looks to balance the budget in 2015 and contemplates a series of   
   tax breaks for Canadians, including expected income-splitting for families and   
   a possible enhancement of the universal child-care benefit.   
      
   The numbers are contained in the Public Accounts, released Wednesday.   
      
   On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be in Vaughan, Ont., and it’s   
   expected he will announce tax breaks for families.  The Conservatives promised   
   in the 2011 election campaign to introduce income-splitting for couples with   
   children under 18 (sharing up to $50,000 of household income for tax purposes),   
   once the budget was balanced.   
      
   But the measure, which could cost the government at least $2.5 billion   
   annually, has proven controversial, even among Conservatives such as the late   
   former finance minister Jim Flaherty, who said income-splitting for families   
   would be of no benefit for many Canadians.   
      
   Harper said earlier this month his government intends “to move quickly to   
   implement promises that we made to Canadians during the last election.”   
      
   Harper could announce a series of tax relief measures for families, which may   
   include an enhancement to the $2.5-billion universal child-care benefit, with   
   options including doubling the existing amount or making the $100-per-month   
   (per child) benefit available to parents with children older than six.   
      
   The $7.4 billion in lapsed spending from the 2013-14 fiscal year is part of an   
   effort to find the money for these kinds of tax breaks.   
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   It is identified in federal records tabled in the House of Commons by Treasury   
   Board president Tony Clement.   An additional $10.9 billion in approved   
   expenditures went unspent the previous year.   
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   At the same time, several departments and agencies have been laying off   
   thousands of employees and cutting billions of dollars in costs in an effort to   
   help   
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   get the federal government back into black ink.   
      
   The tighter purse strings can be seen in the budgetary balance: the deficit in   
   2013-14 was $5.2 billion, dramatically lower than the $16.6 billion projected   
   in the budget.   
      
   The savings have come at a cost to some departments.   
      
   The Department of National Defence – which had close to $1 billion in lapsed   
   spending last year – has had to park many of its military vehicles, cut back   
   on   
   training, and cancel the purchase of spare parts because of a lack of cash.   
      
   More than $700 million in planned spending by Infrastructure Canada also went   
   unused, dollars that might otherwise have gone to projects such as bridges   
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   and roads.   
      
   The Conservatives have also faced a backlash from veterans and opposition   
   parties for closing nine regional Veterans Affairs offices across Canada, which   
   the government says will save about $4 million a year and improve service.   
      
   As the country grapples with what the government believes are terrorist   
   attacks, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service is facing challenges with   
   what senior officials have called “limited resources” for tracking all 80   
   suspected Canadian extremists who travelled abroad for terror-related   
   activities and have returned to Canada.   
      
   Federal unions have argued that government cuts to border services staff –   
   including front-line workers, intelligence officials and sniffer-dog teams –   
   are putting public safety and security at risk.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)