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   CBC - Posted: Apr 22, 2015  Chris Hall   
   National Affairs Editor   
      
      
   Joe Oliver's promises-kept budget. Ignore the sleight of hand   
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   If there's one theme coming out of Tuesday's federal budget it's this —  the   
   Conservatives are more interested in telling Canadians what they've already   
   done for them than what they intend to do.   
      
   And that's what makes this budget, delivered just a few months before the   
   Conservatives are set to go to the polls in search of a fourth consecutive   
   mandate, so interesting.   
      
   The focus, in both the budget documents and Finance Minister Joe Oliver's   
   speech, is on reinforcing the Conservative brand as Stephen Harper would have   
   it.   
      
   It begins with the budget's title: Strong Leadership: A Balanced Budget,   
   Low-Tax Plan for Jobs, Growth and Security.  The phrase "the Harper Government"   
   is back after a lengthy hiatus.   
      
   Promises, Oliver said, have been kept.   
      
   "We have cut taxes to their lowest level in more than half a century," he told   
   the Commons early in his budget speech. "We have made the largest long-term   
   federal infrastructure commitment in our country's history."   
      
   The books are not only balanced on time, but Oliver is forecasting a modest   
   $1.4 billion surplus.  What investments there are will be strictly focused to   
   promote the automobile industry, small business and national security.   
      
   The beneficiaries of new tax cuts are important Conservative voting   
   constituencies: parents with children.  Small business owners.  Seniors.   
      
   "For generations Canadian families have understood the path to prosperity,"   
   Oliver said. "Don't compromise tomorrow by spending recklessly today. Don't   
   pile on debt you can't afford. And invest sensibly for a secure future."   
      
   The Conservatives, Oliver said, have the same principles.   
      
   "We have been prudent. We have been practical. And we have stuck to our plan.''   
      
      
      
   Sleight of hand   
      
   Mind you, none of those things stopped this government from employing a little   
   fiscal sleight of hand.   
      
   To get to balance, Ottawa sold its remaining shares in General Motors.   
      
   The $3-billion contingency fund was cut to $1 billion.   
      
   EI premiums will continue to take in more than the fund pays out to the   
   unemployed. All together, those decisions gave Oliver billions in additional   
   revenue.   
      
   And then there's the spending.   
      
   Topping the list, a new Public Transit Fund.  The investment of $1 billion   
   seems small, but the news isn't the amount, it is how the money will be spent.   
      
   Ottawa will no longer cover its usual one-third share of construction costs;   
   instead it will cover the loan payments taken out by cities to improve public   
   transit, with a goal of helping finance more projects, over a longer period of   
   time.   
      
   The government also announced it will spend nearly $300 million more on   
   national security.   
      
   But the catch in both initiatives is in the fine print.   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   Spending on security starts out small, and grows over time.   
   The Public Transit Fund, and new spending on defence, don't kick in until 2017,   
   leaving the government wiggle room to backtrack if the economy stalls.   
      
   Promising the money will be spent AFTER the election also provides an incentive   
   for Canadians to stay with the Conservatives.  At least that's the thinking.   
      
   One commitment won't be re-thought.  The Conservatives' already announced plan   
   to allow income splitting by parents with children is untouchable, despite its   
   $4.5- billion price tag.   
      
   It's the foundation of the government's family-first agenda, and a significant   
   piece of the budget's claim that the average two-earner family has $6,600 more   
   in their pockets under the Conservatives.   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)