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What did we give up to lower the deficit?: Editorial

Before we celebrate the lower-than-expected federal deficit, the government must answer questions about how we got there.

Canadian governments have long masterfully managed expectations when it comes to public money. Paul Martin, for instance, was famous for projecting big deficits or small surpluses and then overdelivering. After all, a windfall looks better than a shortfall.
 

But that’s not the only reason the lower-than-expected federal deficit announced last week is a gift horse we really ought to look in the mouth. The roughly $11-billion public bonus seems a lot like good news, but just how good depends entirely on answers to questions the government appears eager to avoid.
 

What got cut to get us here?
 

Of the surprise windfall, $2.8 billion came from unexpected program cuts. The Conservatives claim this is evidence of sound fiscal management, proof they should be allowed to stay at the helm beyond 2015.
 

But surely that depends on what got cut — information the government has become expert at hiding from Parliament and Canadians. Two successive parliamentary budget officers have been stymied in their efforts to find out how the deep cuts begun in the 2012 federal budget are being implemented. The Conservatives created the PBO to report to Parliament on precisely this sort of information, but have undermined the office at every turn.
 

Clearly there are programs Canadians would like to see slashed and those we would like to see preserved. It would be instructive to know in which category these unanticipated cuts fall.

READ MORE: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2014/10/12/what_did_we_give_up_to_lower_the_deficit_editorial.html