Harper's Secret Budget Cuts Undermine Canada's Democracy
The Harper government has made no secret of its intention to tighten Canada's fiscal belt over the last several years.
Since 2010, the prime minister has been working to downsize the budgets of most federal agencies by between 5 and 10 per cent as part of his Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP). In some cases, such as with the RCMP, the cuts have been as severe as 15 percent.
But DRAP is only part of the picture. A stealth campaign of additional budget cutting is afoot in Ottawa, occurring under the radar of most Canadians.
It involves federal organizations grossly underspending their close-to-the-bone budgets without providing any explanation to taxpayers.
In 2013-14, $7.1 billion in approved funding went unspent across government. The figure was $10.1 billion the previous year.
These "lapsed funds," as the government calls them, result in diminished programs and services for the Canadian people.
READ MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/colin-kenny/canada-budget-cuts_b_6249122.html
"The way the underspending scheme stifles debate reminds me of the Harper government's omnibus legislation, except it's even worse. Even after the prime minister invoked time allocation, parliamentarians were at least afforded some opportunity to discuss the massive omnibus bills. But with underspending, Canada's representatives don't get any time to debate the measures at all. Nor do they get a chance to ask officials enough tough questions about the impact of the cuts. This undermines our democracy."
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