I must confess that, although I do not like the idea of 6 weeks of politicians plying their platitudes, I cannot support this budget and I am glad the opposition parties are rejecting it. That puts me in the other 50%.
Here’s what I like
- $400 million to extend the ecoENERGY Home Retrofit program for one year.
- $300 million to benefit low-income seniors
- $300 a year in Family Caregiver Tax Credits for family members looking after sick or disabled relatives.
- Forgiving a portion of education loans for doctors and nurses if they work in rural and remote communities.
Here’s what I don't like
- $400 million to support the nuclear industry but nothing to support alternative energy.
- $1 billion in subsidies to oil and gas companies that already made a profit of over $8 billion in 2010.
- $10 million for the Grey Cup and Calgary Stampede versus $2.5 million for the Great Lakes (which supply drinking water to 8.5 million Canadians) shows pretty clearly how much the current government values clean water.
Here’s what we should all be worried about
The budget doesn’t even mention the $29.3 billion (Parliamentary Budget Office estimate) the Harper government plans to spend on 65 fighter jets.
Also unaccounted for is the estimated $9 billion for building new prisons that the Harper government is committed to--despite the fact that crime rates are falling!
That’s $40 billion of spending (as much as transfers to all the provinces or total support for seniors) that’s missing from this budget. That’s not financially responsible.
Source: Green Party of Canada
