Canada Posts Surplus For Fiscal Year

[DonLever]

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada posted a budget surplus in 2014-15 to end a string of deficits a year earlier than expected, final numbers showed on Monday, bringing welcome news for the Conservatives' re-election campaign.

The country had a surplus of C$1.9 billion ($1.4 billion), the finance department's Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada showed. The deficit had been projected at C$2.0 billion in the most recent budget released in April.

It was the first time Canada was in the black since 2007-08. The government ran six consecutive years of deficits starting in 2008-09 after launching a spending program to boost the economy following the global credit crisis.

The government has promised to run a surplus for the current fiscal year, but with oil prices slumping and the economy starting the year in a mild recession, the opposition has questioned whether it will succeed. The left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) has also pledged balanced budgets, while the Liberals plan to run deficits in order to spend on stimulus.

Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau said Prime Minister Stephen Harper had cut spending in order to deliver the balanced budget ahead of the election.

"It was a political goal that actually has helped us slide into ... recession," Trudeau said.

Still, the news could bolster Harper's argument the government will be able to stay in surplus and give credibility to the Conservatives' claim of good fiscal management. Harper said in a statement on Monday that "now is not the time for long-term deficits or higher taxes."

NDP leader Tom Mulcair called the numbers good news for Canadians that show "that the NDP is going to be starting off on the right foot."

[TOMapleLaughs]

Slashing programs and services has been a Canadian mandate for as long as I can remember. In the past it's made us proud to be so fiscally efficient. Look at our big surpluses! This helps the country fer sure! Then came the deficits and spending on who knows what. (Literally, nobody knows where all the money went. The Cons can't come up with an accounting for billions spent on 'security.')

Now it's getting harder for us to find a family doctor. 1 in 5 families in BC don't have one. And kids across the province are having to wait in limbo while their schools scramble for teachers as they're not allowed to employ more than the bare minimum.

I laugh at government surpluses and deficits alike, because at the end of the day it's our freakin' money, and they're all wasting it.

Yes, every single political party out there does it, but some will waste it on BS wars abroad, spying on it's civilians, and bailing out rich as frack banks, while others may actually provide we Canadians something other than the bare minimum services possible.

And now the push from Canadian Hicksville is 'Economic Freedom!'

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/09/14/canada-one-of-most-economically-free-fraser-institute

Let it be known that this means the freedom for foreign corporations to own our land and resources outright, so they can fill their own bank accounts abroad, with no positive impact for Canadians at all.

Neo-Liberalism scares the freakin' crap outta me. We're not going to have a Canada left for us, folks.

[Warhippy]

No it didn't.

Follow along.

It had a $3.2 billion sale of GM assets which padded last years budget and made it look better than it was. That surplus carried in to this year, where coupled with the sale of the wheat board, the slashing of EI funding and the pushing of health care costs to the provinces managed to ensure they had a $5 billion contingency.

Now, factor in all of the cut services and the money that the auditor general says was not spent or allocated to various ministries and boom. Faux surplus

In laymans terms. They didn't pay any of their bills, sold their car and are showing their friends that they have a fat bank account. When the reality is they're walking home to an empty house with no heat, power or food and still have bills to pay.

Even some of the most staunch Conservative defenders have stated today that this number without those steps would be one of the larger post 2008 deficits this government has had.

[Edlerberry]

In laymans terms. They didn't pay any of their bills, sold their car and are showing their friends that they have a fat bank account. When the reality is they're walking home to an empty house with no heat, power or food and still have bills to pay.

exactly this

eventually when all mineral/oil/resource rights are given away and all crown corps are privatized, we'll be left with an even bigger deficit, higher bills, and no assets or income.

but security... only security this country needs are for the politicians to keep them safe from their constituents

[Lockout Casualty]

No it didn't.

Follow along.

It had a $3.2 billion sale of GM assets which padded last years budget and made it look better than it was. That surplus carried in to this year, where coupled with the sale of the wheat board, the slashing of EI funding and the pushing of health care costs to the provinces managed to ensure they had a $5 billion contingency.

Now, factor in all of the cut services and the money that the auditor general says was not spent or allocated to various ministries and boom. Faux surplus

In laymans terms. They didn't pay any of their bills, sold their car and are showing their friends that they have a fat bank account. When the reality is they're walking home to an empty house with no heat, power or food and still have bills to pay.

Even some of the most staunch Conservative defenders have stated today that this number without those steps would be one of the larger post 2008 deficits this government has had.

Sale of GM assets was for the current budget, 2015-16.

We'll see how many departments under-spent. Here's one:

Canada’s immigration department returned more than $350 million to the federal treasury in unspent funds over a three-year period, a sum that included millions for processing refugee applications and helping asylum-seekers settle into Canada

[LaBamba]

Hahaha you guys are pathetic, give credit where credit is due. For his spending to be even close to budget during this economic turmoil is outstanding. He did what he had to do. He knows how to run a country.

Enjoy this while this lasts ladies and gentlemen, this is probably the last time you will see a balanced budget in your lifetime. Infrastructure spending and increased social spending are going to sink us into an abyss. Japan Greece, USA, Italy all took this route during the 2008 recession and today, none of those projects have paid back their investment.

Imagine what our surplus will look like when Oil goes back to even $70/bbl. that is what you build infrastructure with, not borrowed money,

He is such a leader that the word leadership isn't enough. You have to pluralize it.

Harper is leaderships.

[inane]

Hahaha you guys are pathetic, give credit where credit is due. For his spending to be even close to budget during this economic turmoil is outstanding. He did what he had to do. He knows how to run a country.

Enjoy this while this lasts ladies and gentlemen, this is probably the last time you will see a balanced budget in your lifetime. Infrastructure spending and increased social spending are going to sink us into an abyss. Japan Greece, USA, Italy all took this route during the 2008 recession and today, none of those projects have paid back their investment.

Imagine what our surplus will look like when Oil goes back to even $70/bbl. that is what you build infrastructure with, not borrowed money,

He is such a leader that the word leadership isn't enough. You have to pluralize it.

Harper is leaderships.

You're hilarious. I could balance an unsteady ship by throwing all long term safety's overboard, but that boat sure ain't safe.

[Warhippy]

You're hilarious. I could balance an unsteady ship by throwing all long term safety's overboard, but that boat sure ain't safe.

just ignore the cry for attention.

Trolls gonna troll.

The guy would happily follow a conservative promise jnto a van for candy and claim what happened after was still better than anything the NDP or liberals would do

[LaBamba]

just ignore the cry for attention.

Trolls gonna troll.

The guy would happily follow a conservative promise jnto a van for candy and claim what happened after was still better than anything the NDP or liberals would do

How was I trolling? I like Conservatives, why do people personally attack me for that?

Judging from my own observations of mistakes that other countries and other governments have done in the past 15-20 years the NDP and Liberal budget mentality scares me.

If we are talking pure economics, which is all I care about, the Conservatives have done better with capitalism then any other country.

Id sooner have the extra money in my bank account and not have 9900 Syrian men and 100 Syrian women in Canada with no jobs.

[WillyFox]

I love how this information is out there right before the election to make the conservatives look like they are doing s good job. How much money did they take away from veterans, EI, and the First Nations. Harper is a goof

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

How was I trolling? I like Conservatives, why do people personally attack me for that?

Judging from my own observations of mistakes that other countries and other governments have done in the past 15-20 years the NDP and Liberal budget mentality scares me.

If we are talking pure economics, which is all I care about, the Conservatives have done better with capitalism then any other country.

Id sooner have the extra money in my bank account and not have 9900 Syrian men and 100 Syrian women in Canada with no jobs.

You don't understand the concept of cheap labour, do you. There's basically nothing going on up there in your head.

[LaBamba]

You don't understand the concept of cheap labour, do you. There's basically nothing going on up there in your head.

My bad

[Mr. Ambien]

You don't understand the concept of cheap labour, do you. There's basically nothing going on up there in your head.

All while preaching minimum wage hikes.. how cheap is cheap? And where are the jobs?

Canada is full of immigrants already looking for unskilled (or low skilled) labour.

I love how this information is out there right before the election to make the conservatives look like they are doing s good job. How much money did they take away from veterans, EI, and the First Nations. Harper is a goof

Hopefully the First Nations payments goes down to zero.

Cuts are how you balance a budget (when you're bringing in less tax revenue) and not blow up the economy.

The NDP obviously agrees with Harper.

Liberals would just spend into debt for stimulus (and are proud of this).. yeah, that's a wise plan.

I don't agree with much Harper has done, but this is good news. Leave it to CDC to spin it into #harperhate.

[Warhippy]

How was I trolling? I like Conservatives, why do people personally attack me for that?

Judging from my own observations of mistakes that other countries and other governments have done in the past 15-20 years the NDP and Liberal budget mentality scares me.

If we are talking pure economics, which is all I care about, the Conservatives have done better with capitalism then any other country.

Id sooner have the extra money in my bank account and not have 9900 Syrian men and 100 Syrian women in Canada with no jobs.

Well first off, you called me pathetic bud. Great way to start a conversation.

Do let us know HOW the Libs budget can scare you, especially knowing how well they did the countries economy from the 90's through 2002 vs how the Cons have all but failed everyone...but well apparently you. You want to talk PURE economics?

6 deficits, consecutively. 7 including the first year. flat lined job creation. flat lined GDP, 2 recessions. Wanna talk economics. Talk your way out of that convincingly without some useless anecdote

You'd sooner have money than syrians? Newsflash. Your boy is promising now to do more than the Libs or NDP. Your boy also has hundreds of thousands of TFWs in the country taking jobs.

So go ahead. Do let us know convincingly how the NDP or Libs budget again is soooo much worse than Harpers. Because honestly man, I have literal novels of data proving Harper knows less than you about the state of the economy in this country

[Warhippy]

All while preaching minimum wage hikes.. how cheap is cheap? And where are the jobs?

Canada is full of immigrants already looking for unskilled (or low skilled) labour.

Hopefully the First Nations payments goes down to zero.

Cuts are how you balance a budget (when you're bringing in less tax revenue) and not blow up the economy.

The NDP obviously agrees with Harper.

Liberals would just spend into debt for stimulus (and are proud of this).. yeah, that's a wise plan.

I don't agree with much Harper has done, but this is good news. Leave it to CDC to spin it into #harperhate.

Just to clarify

How is selling off vital assets, slashing essential funding and not spending ministry budgets just to fudge the budget to look good for 1 whole year a good thing?

[Mr. Ambien]

Just to clarify

How is selling off vital assets, slashing essential funding and not spending ministry budgets just to fudge the budget to look good for 1 whole year a good thing?

Pretty much everything is essential. No one wants things slashed, but that's the tough decisions needed to be made. Who ever wants to cut spending?

Can you go over with me what you think should be cut that Canadians don't consider essential?

When your economy is contracting, the dumbest thing to do is tax people more. You spend less. That's called making cuts.

It works for macro, micro, and what a surprise, it works for personal budgeting too. Why go against what logic dictates?

I can tell you why modern governments don't. The populace thinks recessions are bad, and even worse, when your economy is contracting, that you can spend the same, if not go more into debt, like that's an intelligent thing to do.

[taxi]

Just to clarify

How is selling off vital assets, slashing essential funding and not spending ministry budgets just to fudge the budget to look good for 1 whole year a good thing?

What vital assets are you referring to? The Wheat Board was an archaic marketing board that should have never come into existence. It was sold for $250 million, of which it's unknown how much was actually profit. And please don't tell me that the government owning stock in a US car manufacturer was essential. They should have never bought the stock in the first place, which was just a disguised bailout.

[LaBamba]

Well first off, you called me pathetic bud. Great way to start a conversation.

Do let us know HOW the Libs budget can scare you, especially knowing how well they did the countries economy from the 90's through 2002 vs how the Cons have all but failed everyone...but well apparently you. You want to talk PURE economics?

6 deficits, consecutively. 7 including the first year. flat lined job creation. flat lined GDP, 2 recessions. Wanna talk economics. Talk your way out of that convincingly without some useless anecdote

You'd sooner have money than syrians? Newsflash. Your boy is promising now to do more than the Libs or NDP. Your boy also has hundreds of thousands of TFWs in the country taking jobs.

So go ahead. Do let us know convincingly how the NDP or Libs budget again is soooo much worse than Harpers. Because honestly man, I have literal novels of data proving Harper knows less than you about the state of the economy in this country

You Have absolutely no idea how currency value effects an exporting country do you?

Like no idea at all whatsoever.

Our dollar was at PAR with our biggest trader for a huge portion of Harper's reign.

Every claim to economic fame by any government in the history of this country would be in-sync with a strong USD. This includes Harper recently.

These recent economic upticks are 99.999999% generated by the strength in the USD.

For Harper to keep employment flat during this once in a lifetime event that had our dollar near par with The USA for this long is absolutely breath taking. I challenge you to find another exporting country do better under similar circumstances.

Leadership(s)

Edit: I'll see your response tomorrow after you get back from coffee at A&W where you and the other miserable old men complain about absolutely everything that isn't exactly the same as it was.

[Lockout Casualty]

Federal departments left $8.7 billion unspent last year

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper on Monday defended federal departments for holding on to billions of dollars last year. The unspent money was instead returned to the federal treasury, and played a huge role in the Conservative government posting a $1.9-billion budget surplus in the last fiscal year.

Finance Canada reported the federal surplus Monday, after initial projections in April had suggested a $2-billion deficit. The report said a variety of factors were responsible for the surplus, including a slight bump in government revenue from corporate and personal income tax.

But federal departments and agencies also chipped in by handing back an estimated $8.7 billion for different programs that had been requested — and in some cases publicly announced — by the government and approved by Parliament.

Speaking at an event in Kamloops, B.C., Harper seized on the surplus to bolster his economic credentials heading into the second half of this year’s marathon election campaign. He dismissed concerns about the unspent billions, including whether the measures may have pushed the economy back into recession.

“The government’s lapses are completely normal,” Harper said. “Obviously we always make sure government departments have more than enough money but we don’t expect them to spend every single dime. We expect them to spend effectively.”

However, last year’s lapse, as unspent federal funds are called, was anything but normal. The Conservatives’ own budget plan in April, which projected only a $7.2-billion lapse, said government spending through February was “well below the historical average.” Spending to that point was also “at the lowest level in a decade.”

While the Conservatives have portrayed lapses as proof of economic prudence, critics say they amount to cuts by stealth. They say this is how the government can take money from Veterans Affairs, National Defence and other departments without actually cutting budgets.

During a campaign stop in Toronto, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau accused the Conservatives of having erased the federal deficit by “under-spending and making cuts” across government “so he could balance the books in time for his election.” Trudeau is the only main party leader to promise deficits if elected to power.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, who has promised a balanced budget if elected, didn’t speak to the unspent funds.

Canadians won’t know exactly which departments or programs were affected until after the election, when the government publishes its annual detailed accounts. But figures produced by the Parliamentary Budget Office over the weekend provide an idea of where some of the money came from.

The PBO figures aren’t final as not all departments, agencies and Crown corporations have reported their full end-of-year spending. But they do suggest hundreds of millions set aside for new military equipment, processing refugee applications, First Nations communities and transportation infrastructure went unspent.

In contrast, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency and Canadian Food Inspection Agency were among a small number of federal departments or agencies that spent all their money – or even appeared to go over budget.

Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page said he had no doubt the Conservative government ordered senior public servants to “put the brakes” to spending to ensure a surplus during the election campaign. “It’s a big chunk of spending,” he said. “And it’s not easy for a lot of the departments.”

Page, who now teaches at the University of Ottawa, said lapsed funding has a direct impact on Canadians, and whoever wins the election will face a difficult situation that may involve either re-opening the taps or making more cuts.

“They’re going to look at that spending framework and say, ‘Is this sustainable?’” he said. “Is the Coast Guard going to function the way it should function? Are we going to have the sort of food inspection we need? Are we going to be able to get the cheques out the door for seniors and unemployed people?”

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/federal-departments-left-8-7-billion-unspent-last-year

"Surplus" lol

[Mr. Ambien]

You Have absolutely no idea how currency value effects an exporting country do you?

Like no idea at all whatsoever.

Our dollar was at PAR with our biggest trader for a huge portion of Harper's reign.

Every claim to economic fame by any government in the history of this country would be in-sync with a strong USD. This includes Harper recently.

These recent economic upticks are 99.999999% generated by the strength in the USD.

For Harper to keep employment flat during this once in a lifetime event that had our dollar near par with The USA for this long is absolutely breath taking. I challenge you to find another exporting country do better under similar circumstances.

Leadership(s)

Edit: I'll see your response tomorrow after you get back from coffee at A&W where you and the other miserable old men complain about absolutely everything that isn't exactly the same as it was.

They serve coffee at A&W?