Harper government unveils budget
Posted Jun 6, 2011 04:25:50 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Harper government has presented a deja vu budget with only two new measures, cash for Quebec and a lump of coal for their political rivals.
The first budget of the Tory majority era largely mirrors the one Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered barely two months ago.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is forging ahead with a budget loaded with low-cost boutique tax breaks, modest pension help for the poorest seniors, and a vow to slay the deficit within four years.
New to the spending blueprint is $2.2 billion for Quebec to fully harmonize its provincial sales tax and with the federal GST, and a commitment to phase out the $2-per-vote public subsidy received by all federal political parties.
Both measures were promised by the Conservatives during the April election campaign that led to Harper winning the first federal Conservative majority since 1988.
The loss of the per-vote subsidy will leave parties almost fully reliant on private donations.
