June 2015
THE SPENDING LAPSE AND HUDAK MATH
Hardly a week goes by without a major media network breaking news that the federal government is deliberately underspending in order to meet its budget targets. It has been claimed that Indian Affairs and Northern Development underspent its spending appropriations by $1 billion over the period 2009-10 to 2013-14. Prior to that, it was claimed that Veterans Affairs had underspent its budget by $1.1 billion over a number of years.
These are shocking numbers if they were in fact true? Fortunately, none of this is true.
Read MoreA SURPLUS LAST YEAR; THIS YEAR MAYBE NOT
In his first budget last April, Finance Magician Joe Oliver pulled a handful of rabbits out of his hat to achieve the long-promised balanced budget in 2015-16. He sold GM shares at cut-rate prices for a net savings of $900 million; cut the contingency reserve by $2 billion; and, booked a “settlement” of $900 million for a new disability and sick leave management system for federal government employees. All this was necessary to pay for the Family Tax Cut package while still honouring the Government’s commitment of a balanced budget in 2015-16.Last week, the Mr.
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