Paula (
April 27, 2015)
I think they are trying, but the reality is it is a very big country and trying to provide infrastructure and social services to everyone equally is impossible. Especially unequal and unfair to the people who are trying to contribute. |
pk (
April 27, 2015)
@2nd post: It's not really saving if you have to spend $500 to get $50. |
2nd post (
April 27, 2015)
apparently pk doesn't like saving ten per cent - raise premiums by one per cent and all hell would break loose tho |
Gus (
April 27, 2015)
The federal debt in 2007 was at $516.3 billion dollars, while Ontario's debt stood at $142.4 billion. According to the Fraser Institute, a Conservative think tank, in 2013/14 the federal debt stood at $687.9 billion and Ontario's at $269.1. The total, federal/provincial, debt as of last year stood at $1.3 trillion. This is a disgrace for a rich country like Canada. The interest on the federal debt alone is $31 billion this year. This is more than the entire combined budgets for EI, maternity and parental benefits, the child tax credit, and the universal child tax care benefit. The federal government's advantage is that unlike the provinces they can raid the EI program, cut transfer and equalization payments to the provinces and use a $3-billion reserve fund which is to be used in case of a disaster. By the way these federal flunkies are giving themselves a 2.8 per cent pay increase this year for a job well done. Only in politics can you be incompetent and give yourselves a pay raise. |
pk (
April 25, 2015)
I was hoping the Liberals would do something about exorbitant insurance premiums as they promised, but in true Liberal economics you have to spend $500 to save $50. |
Josie (
April 24, 2015)
I may benefit a little from the federal government 2015 budget but certainly not from the provincial one. Who knows where the new hydro rates are going and now Wynne is selling off 60% there never will be a decrease. Another increase is scheduled for May 1. (Maybe we should all move to Manitoba!)
Just because a budget is balanced does not mean our economy is great. Each government has a large debt. The federal government debt is manageable but the Ontario government is the worst in Canada and will take many years to pay, if ever. |
pk (
April 24, 2015)
I think the federal budget does more for ordinary Canadians with no major tax increases and the raising of the TFSA limit is good for some. There doesn't seem to be anything painful in it. On the other hand the provincial budget doesn't seem bad but time will tell what the hydro deal will cost Ontarians, and there is no clarification what changes to drug plan or whatever they meant. |
Jack (
April 24, 2015)
Where does Rickford get off claiming this is the first balanced budget since the Great Depression. What a load. Paul Martin achieved a balanced budget in 1997-98, the first in nearly 30 years. Yes, the Liberals increased spending, raided the EI fund and CPP, and off-loaded spending cuts on provinces, but Martin did reduce the size of government. There was a string of five consecutive surpluses. The current Harper government and McGuinty-Wynne Ontario government are like so many Canadian governments since the Second World War that practice Keynesian Economics - meaning they believe government spending can both create economic activity and buy votes. And no, that's not improving my quality of life because - as Hank points out - they're digging deeper in my pocket than ever before. |
Hank (
April 24, 2015)
Don't feel good about either federal or provincial budget. These governments have spent more in the past decade than any government prior to their respective cases and it comes at expense in particular of middle class. Not just taxes. In Ontario, hydro rates are going to be 20 cents per kWh before you know it. This after climbing 65% in last 8 years. When it gets sold shareholders will have stars in eyes because of the rates of return and there is no way prices are going down. Then Wynne and company are going to add another 3 cents or more tax to a litre of gas and there's a new tax on beer. Won't see anything for transportation infrastructure coming north so yours and my municipal taxes will continue to be unrealistic because the City has to pay for bridges and more. Nothing left for this middle-class beer drinker to contribute to the fed's touted Tax Free Savings Accounts. |
John (
April 23, 2015)
The only people who ever benefit is the government. They are the ones who always get raises. We have to wait until we are 65 to collect pensions but not them. So many years and they are guaranteed one. The north has never benefited and never will. |
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