Nova Scotia Budget 2008
April 29, 2008
- incl. links to all budget papers

Budget Highlights (PDF - 84K, 2 pages)
(...) Healthy Communities
* $19 million this year - and $160 million over eight years - will go toward quality, affordable child care This includes an investment of $6 million to develop about 250 more child care spaces
* $31.7 million toward the Family Pharmacare Program will make prescription drugs affordable for as many as 180,000 Nova Scotians who have had no drug coverage in the past

Budget 2008 news releases
- links to six news related releases including :
* Tax Relief for Nova Scotians * Helping Nova Scotians Stay Warm * Nova Scotia's Commitment to Debt Reduction * Budget Address * 2008-09 Budget Overview

The 2008-09 Nova Scotia budget by the numbers
Source:
The Chronicle-Herald

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Nova Scotia, 2008 budget"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Nova Scotia Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nsbkmrk.htm

Newfoundland and Labrador Budget 2008
April 29, 2008
- incl. links to all budget papers

Budget Highlights
(...)
- Lifting from Poverty
* Investment of $12 million this year ($17.3 million annualized) for a total of more than $100 million annually in the Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Examples include:
* $1.7 million to support youth at risk
* $1 million to improve access to healthy food and community activities
* $1.5 million for the extension of the Make Work Pay Workplace Connections initiative to cover all income support clients who join the labour market
* $2.4 million to index basic income support benefits effective April 1, 2008
* Expanding the Employment Transition Project for single parents through an investment of $128,000
* $470,000 investment in community-based workplace skills training and a micro-lending program
* $1.4 million to improve access to housing, particularly for seniors and those working for low wages
* $40,000 to increase operating grants to eight Status of Women’s centres
* $279,000 to establish a Family Violence Treatment Court pilot project
* $1.5 million in improvements to Income Support benefits
* Funding of $254,900 to expand the Child, Youth and Family Civil Legal Aid Project to the Western region
* $126,300 for civil legal aid support for persons required to make a court appearance under the Mental Health Act
(...)

News Releases - links to 11 news releases related to Budget 2008
..including:
Newfoundland and Labrador Continues to
Invest to Lead the Country in Poverty Reduction Initiatives
The Williams Government continues to act on its commitment to alleviate, prevent and reduce poverty in the province with new measures that focus on improving earned incomes, strengthening the social safety net and supporting youth at risk. Budget 2008 provides an additional $9.6 million in new Poverty Reduction Strategy initiatives and this funding is in addition to the $2.4 million announced April 1 to index basic income support rates. That brings the total investment in the current fiscal year to $12 million and once fully implemented in 2009-10, the Provincial Government’s annual investment in poverty reduction will be more than $100 million.

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Newfoundland and Labrador , 2008 budget"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Newfoundland and Labrador Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nfbkmrk.htm

2008 Provincial Budget - Prince Edward Island
April 23, 2008
- includes the Budget Address and supporting documents (Highlights - Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure - Capital Estimates), as well as links to previous PEI budgets back to 1997

Highlights (PDF - 1.9MB, 11 pages)

Source:
Government of Prince Edward Island

Related links:

Seniors care highlights health spending
April 24, 2008
A plan to replace five government-owned seniors care manors on P.E.I. was the highlight of new health spending announced in Wednesday's budget.
Source:
CBC News

Spending welcome, but why the deficit?
Most of the spending targets are worthy ones, but did government need to go into the red?
April 24, 2008
"(...) planning for a $34.9-million deficit for 2008-09 is hardly a lofty goal..."
Source:
The Guardian (Charlottetown PEI)

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Prince Edward Island, 2008 budget"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Prince Edward Island Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/pebkmrk.htm

Alberta Budget 2008
April 22, 2008
- NOTE: in addition to links to budget documents, this page presents detailed budget highlights for the following areas (click on any plus sign (+) or link on that page for more info):
* Communities * Businesses * The environment * First Nations and Métis Settlements * Parents * K-12 students * Post-secondary students * People with disabilities * Albertans with lower incomes, seniors, and Albertans in need * Affordable housing * Farmers * Community groups and the arts * Tax cuts * Surplus and savings

Alberta Budget 2008 supports strong social programs for Alberta's growing population
Further investments made in programs for families, seniors, people with disabilities, children, and new Albertans
News Release
April 22, 2008
Budget highlights:
* $76 million more for quality, affordable child care
* $46 million more for affordable supportive living for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities
* $58.5 million more for housing targeting lower-income Albertans and homeless people
* $41 million more for increased support to contracted social agencies
* $15.3 million more in supports to help immigrants, including $1.8 million more in settlement services
* $12.5 million more in resources to address Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
* $3.5 million more in support for community-based social programs

Source:
Government of Alberta

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Alberta budget 2008"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Alberta Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/abkmrk.htm

This just in: surpluses across the board (PDF - 163K, 3 pages)
By Thomas J. Courchene
April 2008
[Abstract] The achievement of budgetary surpluses in Ottawa and in all provinces and territories simultaneously was 60 years in the making. This brief commentary on budgetary federalism adapts the informative charts in Budget 2008 and traces the fiscal/budgetary fortunes of the two levels of government over the past two decades. The near collapse of provincial finances in the wake of the 1995 budget has now been offset by a huge influx of federal cash transfers (Canada Health Transfer, Canada Social Transfer and equalization) and by resource revenues. When combined with federal tax cuts, the result is that the excess of provincial over federal revenues has never been larger.

Source:
Policy options - April 2008 issue (free online magazine)
[ Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) ]

From the Government of Manitoba:

Manitoba Budget 2008 - Opportunity and Stability
[ version française ]
April 9, 2008
- incl. links to * Minister's Budget Message * Speech * Budget In Brief * Budget and Budget Papers * Estimates of Expenditure and Revenue * Tax Savings Estimator * News Releases

April 9, 2008
Budget 2008 charts steady course : selinger
Province Continues to Invest in Skills Training, Doctors, Nurses, Police Officers
News Release
Budget 2008 charts a steady economic course with strategic tax cuts for manufacturers, small businesses and families, boosts skills training, saves for the future and makes key investments in more doctors, nurses, police officers, water protection and climate change, Finance Minister Greg Selinger said today.
[ Links to seven more budget 2008 news releases - April 9]

Budget 2008 Highlights
(Excerpt)
Healthy Families, Healthy Communities
· Investing $16.6 million more in housing through HOMEWorks!
· Providing new funding for people making the transition to employment.
· Investing an additional $5 million in child care to provide more spaces, a new training and recruitment fund and higher wages.
· Providing $3.5 million to extend the Manitoba Shelter Benefit to help single adults and couples on income assistance and to support a pilot project for individuals with mental health challenges.
· Increasing the supported-living program by $12.4 million.
· Adding $23 million to continue making changes to better protect Manitoba children.
· Supporting young adults affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in the areas of housing, education and training, recreation, crisis services, family connections and mentoring.
· Increasing Children’s Special Services funding by six per cent to $23.7 million for physical, speech and language, and occupational therapies and services.

Budget In Brief : Strong FamiliesRelated Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Manitoba budget 2008"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Manitoba Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/mbkmrk.htm

2008 Ontario Budget : Growing a Stronger Ontario
March 25, 2008
- includes links to all budget papers and the following backgrounders : * Economic Plan * Education * Health * Infrastructure * Key sectors * Rural and Northern Ontario * Quality of Life * Skills

Ontario Budget Invests in Skills Training and Infrastructure to Strengthen the Economy:
Government Creating Opportunities for Better Jobs and Stronger Communities
News Release
March 25, 2008

Budget Highlights
- includes papers with info on investments in: skills - infrastructure - competitiveness - innovation - business and industry sectors - education - health - children and families - postsecondary education - the environment.

Ontario Budget 2008 papers
- budget-at-a-glance : detailed table of contents with links to specific sections of all budget papers on one page, including:

Strengthening Ontario's Future by Investing in Families and Quality of Life

Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy
The government’s Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction, chaired by the Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Children and Youth Services, will focus on expanding opportunities for those living in poverty. It will develop a focused poverty reduction strategy with measures, indicators and reasonable targets by the end of 2008. The Committee will review how best to organize and align the current system of supports to ensure more effective investment and more efficient administration. The government will work with communities and other governments to expand opportunity for all Ontarians and reduce poverty over the long term.
- includes info on the following early initiatives under the Poverty Reduction Strategy : * Dental Care for Low-Income Families * Student Nutrition Program * Parenting and Family Literacy Centres * Making Education More Affordable
Source:
Budget Papers, Chapter 1, Section C:
A Better Future for Families: Improving Quality of Life
- also includes info on : * Investing in Social Housing * Asset-Building Strategy for Low-Income Ontarians * Increased Support for Social Assistance * Minimum Wage * Senior Homeowners’ Property Tax Grants * Ontario Property and Sales Tax Credits for Seniors * more...

Supporting Families Receiving Social Assistance (chart and descriptive text)
"(...) proposing to increase the basic adult allowance and maximum shelter allowance by two per cent in 2008–09."

Source:
Ontario Ministry of Finance

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Related links:

Poor get savings program
Other measures include 2% welfare hike, funds for dental care, student nutrition, social housing repairs
March 26, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten
A new $10 million pilot program to help low-income Ontarians save for an education or start a business is key to helping the financially vulnerable build assets and escape poverty, social activists say.
Source:
The Toronto Star
[ more Toronto Star coverage of the 2008 Ontario Budget ]

A pragmatic Ontario budget under trying circumstances
By Jeffrey Simpson
March 26, 2008
Ontario has little room to manoeuvre, given slow growth, weakening exports, a high dollar, an infrastructure deficit, a relentless health-care budget, and a drain on its resources from six provinces through equalization and federal transfers. Under these trying circumstances, Premier Dalton McGuinty's government did well to balance the budget (again), keep spending below revenue growth, put additional money in sensible places, nibble at corporate taxes, and reject simplistic advice from the Harper government.
Source:
Globe and Mail

Media release: Campaign 2000 comments on 2008 Ontario Budget
March 25, 2008
The anti-poverty coalition Campaign 2000 is encouraged to see the Ontario 2008 budget include a number of measures that reflect the Government’s commitment to address poverty.These include: $1.5 billion over 3 years for skills and education initiatives; $100 million to rehabilitate social housing; $135 million over 3 years for dental services for low income Ontarians, and a 2% increase to social assistance rates.
Source:
Campaign 2000

Also from Campaign 2000:

Media release: Poverty Reduction Missing from Federal Budget
February 26, 2008
The federal budget passed up the chance to offer the almost 800,000 children living in poverty in Canada a shot at a better life, says Campaign 2000, the national coalition of over 120 partners working to end child and family poverty in Canada.

Wellesley Institute Backgrounder: 15 times more money for roads than for homes?
Mar 26th, 2008 by Michael Shapcott
Ontario’s 2008 Budget is long on language, but short where it counts the most: The dollars fall short of the words. Budgets are about choices and, fundamentally, budgets are about dollars. The real choices are revealed in the spending and revenue columns.
Source:
Wellesley Institute

Ontario budget: corporations, $750 million, the poor: $167 million
March 26, 2008
Despite the signal that this Ontario budget would focus on poverty, the McGuinty government has missed the mark, said Sid Ryan, the Ontario president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). "Corporations are getting a $750 million tax cut while the poor get $167 million, and barely the rate of inflation for social assistance benefits. Minimum wage workers will still need to wait to 2010 to get a hand out of poverty. Guess who won this war?”
Source:
Canadian Union of Public Employees

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Ontario, 2008 Provincial Budget":
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

-----------------------

Pre-Budget:

Ontario : Pre-budget submission, January 2008 (PDF file - 46K, 4 pages)
January 21, 2008
Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs Pre-Budget Hearings
Queen’s Park, Toronto
Presented by Jacquie Maund, Coordinator, Ontario Campaign 2000

Time for Initial Steps in Poverty Reduction Strategy
Campaign 2000 Calls for a Down Payment on Poverty Reduction in the 2008 Budget (small PDF file, 1 page)
Media Release
January 21, 2008
TORONTO, ON, January 21 – The McGuinty government should seize the opportunity of the 2008 budget to take initial steps on a Poverty Reduction Strategy for Ontario, said Campaign 2000, a 55 Ontario partner coalition working to end child and family poverty, in a pre-budget submission today.
Source:
Ontario Campaign 2000

Deficits not always the work of the devil
January 22, 2008
By Thomas Walkom
With an economic recession almost certainly in the offing, Canadians will have to conquer their fear of government deficits. Deficit financing – allowing governments to temporarily spend more than they take in – has been anathema since the early '90s. That's the last time Canada faced a serious recession. It's also when economic conservatism reached its high-water mark. Backed by the financial press, a powerful coalition of interests managed to convince all major political parties that government spending was the biggest danger facing Canada.
Source:
The Toronto Star

- Go to the Ontario Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk.htm

Yukon Budget 2008-2009
March 20, 2008
- incl. links to : Budget Address - Budget Highlights - 2008-2009 Financial Information
- 2008-2009 Projections - Operation and Maintenance Estimates 2008-2009 - Capital Estimates 2008-2009

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"yukon budget 2008-2009"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Yukon Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/yk.htm

Saskatchewan Budget 2008-2009: Ready for Growth
March 19, 2008
Scroll down the page for links to the following budget documents:
2008-09 Budget Summary - 2008-09 Estimates - 2008-09 Highlights Card (40 fulfilled commitments) - 2008-09 Financial Highlight - Budget Address

News Releases

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"saskatchewan budget 2008-2009"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Saskatchewan Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/skbkmrk.htm

Government of New Brunswick 2008-2009 Budget - March 18, 2008
The 2008-2009 Budget was tabled in the New Brunswick Legislature by Victor Boudreau, Minister of Finance on March 18, 2008.
- incl. links to : Budget Speech - News release - The New Brunswick Economy - Main Estimates

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"new brunswick, budget 2008-2009"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Resuls page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the New Brunswick Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nbkmrk.htm
- Rendez-vous à la page de liens de recherche sociale au Nouveau-Brunswick : http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nbf.htm

Québec Budget 2008-2009 (March 13, 2008)

* Budget Speech(PDF file - 44 pages, 657 Kb)
* Budget Plan (PDF file - 362 pages, 1.93 Mb)
* Additional Information on the Budgetary Measures
(PDF file - 196 pages, 2.52 Mb)
* Press Releases

[QC budgets for earlier years]

Quebec's Liberals get ADQ support for 'balanced' budget
Spring election averted
March 13, 2008
Quebec's minority Liberal government tabled a $62.9-billion budget Thursday aimed at boosting the economy, helping seniors and families, and keeping an election at bay.
Source:
CBC News

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"quebec budget 2008-2009"
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Québec Links (English) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qce.htm
- Rendez-vous à la page de liens de recherche sociale au Québec: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm

Nunavut Budget 2008-2009 (February 20, 2008)
- incl. links to the budget speech, highlights and background papers

- Go to the Nunavut Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nunavut.htm

(Federal) Budget 2008
February 26, 2008
- links to all budget documents
- includes links to earlier federal budgets back to 1994
Source:
Department of Finance Canada
[ Government of Canada ]

Minister Flaherty Tables Legislation to Implement
Budget 2008 Measures and Protect Canada’s Fiscal Framework
News Release
March 14, 2008
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today introduced legislation in the House of Commons to implement key measures from Budget 2008. The bill also includes language to protect the Government’s fiscal plan from the effects of Bill C-253.
- incl. * the new Tax-Free Savings Account starting in 2009 * the new consolidated Canada Student Grant Program * streamlining and modernizing the Canada Student Loans Program, modernizing the immigration system, improving the management and governance of the Employment Insurance (EI) program (through the creation of the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board), providing $110 million to the Mental Health Commission of Canada to support five innovative demonstration projects across the country, increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement earnings exemption for working seniors, and more...
Source:
Department of Finance Canada

----------------------------------------------------
Related links and selected reviews:
----------------------------------------------------

From the CBC:

Federal Budget 2008 : In Depth
- includes highlights of changes by target group : * Individuals and Families * Students * Seniors * Aboriginal Canadians * Immigrants * Businesses * Farmers * Security * The Environment * Research and Development * Sports and Culture

Budget Quotes
Sound bites and brief reactions to the budget from the following:
* Jim Flaherty, federal minister of finance * Stephane Dion, leader, Liberal Party of Canada * Jack Layton, leader, new Democratic Party of Canada * Jay Myers, president, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters * Marc Lee, senior economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives * Buzz Hargrove, president, Canadian Auto Workers * Michael Roschlau, president, Canadian Urban Transit Institute * Avrim Lazar, president, Forest Products Association of Canada * Joanne De Laurentiis, president, Investment Funds Institute of Canada * Gord Steeves, president, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities * Amanda Aziz, national chair, Canadian Federation of Students * Dwight Duncan, minister of finance, Ontario

Your Turn: Budget 2008
Reactions of average Canadians to the 2008 federal budget
Scroll down the page to see comments (232 comments as of 9am Feb. 28) sent in by email, and/or
"Send us Your View" - CBC invites you to write in (anonymously) to say how this budget will affect you and your family.

---------------------------------------

From CTV:

Interactive : Budget 2008

Prudent Conservative budget has some surprises
- incl. links to the Budget Speech and highlights, winners and losers, "Flashback" ("An interactive look at the federal budget's path from deficit to surplus), budget links, budget jargon, and much more...

---------------------------------------

From The Toronto Star:

Federal Budget 2008
- includes a ton of articles plus commentary by :
* Thomas Walkom * Chantal Hébert * David Olive * James Travers * Chantal Hébert * Albert Koehl * Carol Goar

Some activists embrace Flaherty's tax-free plan while others scorn it
February 28, 2008
By Tanya Talaga
The introduction of a tax-free savings account is hailed by some anti-poverty advocates as a big, first incentive to low-income earners to save money intended to be free of government clawbacks. Others say the special savings account is just another way for the rich to get richer.

---------------------------------------

From the Globe and Mail:

Small change for tighter times
$6-billion over three years; New tax shelter and sprinkling of economic aid; Dion vows not to vote it down
Thriftiest federal budget since Ottawa balanced its books 11 years ago includes new tax shelter and sprinkling of economic aid; Dion vows not to vote it down.

---------------------------------------

From the Canadian Labour Congress:

Analysis of the 2008 Federal Budget
The centrepiece of the Budget is a new tax exempt savings vehicle which (...) will eventually cost billions in lost revenues, but only pennies will go to ordinary working families who manage to save very little outside of pensions and RRSPs.

---------------------------------------

From the Progressive Economics Forum:

Budget notes from three of the forum's regular contributors:
* Erin Weir
* Marc Lee
* Andrew Jackson

---------------------------------------

From the Canadian Union of Public Employees:

CUPE's 2008 Federal Budget Summary
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty set very low expectations for the Harper government’s third budget – and managed to deliver even less.

---------------------------------------

From the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

Small budget misses big picture
The minority Conservative government has let Canadians down with a budget short on the vision and leadership needed to address the most pressing issues of our time.

---------------------------------------

From the Wellesley Institute:

Federal budget 2008:
Billion-dollar housing / homelessness gap looming

---------------------------------------

From GlobalResearch.ca:
(Centre for Research on Globalization)

Canada's Budget 2008: Taxes and the Forward March of Neoliberalism
March 1, 2008
"(...) Canada's 2008 Federal Budget [...] clearly states that if you work for a low or modest wage or salary, live in an urban centre, are women or a member of our First Nations, then you have lost.

---------------------------------------

From Canadian Business Online:

Budget 2008: Flaherty delivers stingy budget
The federal finance minister offers meager aid to embattled business sectors

---------------------------------------

From The Conference Board of Canada:

The 2008 Federal Budget: The End of Surplus?
A weaker economic outlook, coupled with the aggressive tax cuts contained in the government’s October 2007 Economic Statement, has constrained the ability of the federal government to introduce significant budget initiatives.

---------------------------------------

From The Financial Post:

Stick to the budget: CD Howe Institute
February 27, 2008
By William Robson and Colin Busby
Colin Busby and William Robson of the C.D. Howe Institute question in Wednesday's Financial Post why governments bother announcing budgets, since history shows they have a poor record of following them.

Also from the Financial Post:

Tax-Free Savings Accounts: the biggest thing since RRSPs
Finn Poschmann
February 27, 2008
The 2008 federal budget, tabled yesterday by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, contains a tax policy gem. The new budget, expected to pass through Parliament, proposes a Tax-Free Savings Account, which would be the most significant, positive innovation in Canada's tax treatment of savings since Registered Retirement Savings Plans in 1957. The new TFSA would allow people to save up to $5,000 per year, out of after-tax income, and to pay no further taxes on those funds or their returns.

Related link:

A New Option for Retirement Savings: Tax-Prepaid Savings Plans (PDF file - 175K, 47 pages)
February 2001
Jonathan Kesselman
Finn Poschmann
Source:
C.D. Howe Institute

---------------------------------------

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"Canada, 2008 Federal Budget "
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

---------------------------------------

Jim Flaherty Photo Gallery (from Google.ca)
Fair's fair.
Because I included a link to a gallery of photos of Carole Taylor (BC Finance Minister) when the BC budget was tabled on Feb. 19, I felt compelled to include this link to a gallery of the federal Finance Minister.
[I'm weird that way. You're weird only if you click the link.]

------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
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Alternative Federal Budget 2008
A Budget Canadians Can Count On
February 25, 2008

Alternative Budget challenges Feds: Stop cutting taxes, start solving problems
Press Release
February 25, 2008
OTTAWA – The Stephen Harper government needs to give up its tax cut addiction and invest in solutions to pressing problems facing Canadians, says the 2008 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB), released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. AFB 2008 calls the minority government on its irresponsible $190 billion tax cut giveaway (made in two short years) and presents a budget that addresses environmental and economic sustainability – without plunging Canada into a fiscal deficit.

* Alternative Federal Budget 2008: A Budget Canadians Can Count On
Complete budget (PDF file - 2MB, 114 pages)
Budget in Brief (PDF File - 199K, 8 pages)

Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

-------------------------------------------

Federal Budget 2008:
Three Housing Questions for Finance Minister Flaherty (PDF file - 120K, 8 pages)
On Tuesday (Feb. 26), Federal Finance Minister James Flaherty will deliver the 2008 budget.
Michael Shapcott, Director of Community Engagement, reviews three key federal programs affecting housing and homelessness with a focus on key issues and solutions.
Source:
Wellesley Institute

-------------------------------------------

From The Toronto Star:

McGuinty wants equal EI pay for Ontario workers
Says unemployed are being short-changed $1.7B and wants Ottawa to address discrepancy in budget
February 23, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten
Premier Dalton McGuinty wants the federal government to use next Tuesday's budget to fix a problem that is keeping $1.7 billion out of the hands of Ontario unemployed workers. But the chances are it won't happen, despite a $50 billion surplus in the Employment Insurance program. McGuinty has been vociferous in complaining about how Ontario's unemployed workers are treated differently than those in other provinces.

Ontarians hope budget will spark EI reform
But despite pressure from McGuinty, Flaherty unlikely to act on uneven benefit payments
February 23, 2008
By Les Whittington
OTTAWA–Ontarians facing the threat of a recession will keep a nervous eye on Tuesday's federal budget to see if the Conservatives will deal with an Employment Insurance program that leaves the province's jobless lagging far behind other Canadians.

Online Federal Pre-Budget Consultations for Budget 2008
[ version française du site de consultation ]
News Release - January 14, 2008
This consultation started on January 14 and ended on February 11

Pre-budget consultation documents:
* Invitation by the Honourable James M. Flaherty, P.C., M.P., Minister of Finance, to Pre-Budget Web Consultations
* Minister Flaherty Launches Online Budget Consultations – News Release 2008-004 (January 14, 2008) - see above
* Canada’s Economic Outlook and Policy Framework : Deputy Minister Rob Wright’s January 10, 2008 Media Briefing Presentation on the Economy
* Where Your Tax Dollar Goes (2006-07) - Multimedia Presentation
* Canada, An Economic Snapshot (Slideshow, January 2008)

Source:
Consulting with Canadians
[ Department of Finance Canada

------------------------------------------------------------

Feds to post first deficit in a decade if economy slows: study
Press Release
January 14, 2008
OTTAWA—A decade of federal budget surpluses could come to an end if an economic slowdown materializes in 2008, says a technical paper for the Alternative Federal Budget, published today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. According to the study, the federal government’s Economic and Fiscal Update, which calls for surpluses as far as the eye can see, does not fully consider the very real possibility of an economic downturn. The study stress-tests the government’s numbers and finds it would not take much of a drop in economic growth before the budget returned to deficit.

Complete study:

How Resilient is the Federal Budget to an Economic Downturn? - PDF File, 159K, 8 pages
January 2008

Other Publications from the Alternative Federal Budget Research Desk

Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives