Ottawa's 2010 budget will have some morsels of new spending after all – just not any “extravagant” items, senior officials say.
In an effort to quash expectations amid a barrage of demands, the Conservative government has broadcast a blunt message this week: The March 4 budget will have “no new measures.” Instead, it said, the document will focus on disbursing the second and final year of already-announced stimulus spending.
But the government has been making efforts to recalibrate this pre-budget message, saying it really means no “extravagant new spending” of the kind in the 2009 budget, which included a now-expired $3-billion home-renovation credit.
In fact, there will be “very small new measures,” one senior official said Wednesday, but no big “goodies” in a budget that is supposed to pave the way for years of restraint
It's almost impossible to avoid increasing spending in the budget. More than $244-billion of program spending is planned for the 2010-11 year, according to the last-available government forecasts: a cumulative increase across various departments of nearly $3-billion from the prior year. From budget to budget, expenditures in some areas rise to account for inflation and population growth.
This planned increase could be pared back if Ottawa begins a show of restraint early, but the total pie will still expand.
“Federal spending continues to increase, just at a slower rate,” the senior official said.
The fiscal framework always has pockets of cash squirrelled away that Ottawa can draw on for new measures.
Money is set aside for programs that are due to expire on the assumption that Ottawa will renew them. This money can be refashioned for new, similar initiatives or redirected.
Cash is also set aside in case Ottawa is forced to pay out money in a lawsuit. This can also be freed up for spending if a particular risk subsides or disappears.
Mr. Harper has suggested Ottawa plans more for retraining or supporting the unemployed. “I think Canadians recognize we've responded in a timely and effective manner to job losses … but clearly more has to be done,” the Prime Minister said in January.
