Finance Minister Joe Oliver delivered his maiden budget with a careful balance of targeted pre-election measures _ and just enough room to keep the federal books above water.
Oliver is projecting a surplus of 1.4-billion dollars this year, increasing to 4.8 billion by 2019-20 — but the government had to dip into its rainy-day fund, take cash out of the Employment Insurance program and sell off assets to get there.
That’s mainly because it lost about six-billion dollars in revenues as a result of drastically lower oil prices.
The budget also includes a drop in the small business tax rate from 11 per cent to nine per cent by 2019. An additional 11.8-billion dollars is earmarked for the Canadian military over a 10-year period, starting in 2017. Ottawa is also changing the rules governing registered retirement income funds, to allow seniors to preserve their retirement nest eggs for longer.
The Assembly of First Nations National Chief Says the 2015 federal budget is a “Missed Opportunity” for First Nations.
AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde says today’s budget failed to deliver on investments needed to improve the lives of First Nations. He says there was no plan in the budget to close the gap in the quality of life between First Nations and Canadians.
“First Nations people are treated like second class citizens living in third world conditions,” said Bellegarde in a media release. “The cost of First Nations poverty is too high and everyone is paying for it when we should be investing in our shared future.”
Chief Bellegarde says the AFN is calling for investment and collaboration on a real strategy for change
(With files from the Canadian Press)