Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Bait and switch
UPDATED
Ottawa posts deficit for fiscal year as income tax revenue falls in March
Finance Department says preliminary $2B deficit for 2015-16 'broadly in line' with spring budget's projections
The Liberals say the latest figures from the Finance Department — which show a small deficit in the last fiscal year — confirm that the Tories left the books in the red when they lost the election last fall.
However, the Conservatives place blame for the deficit squarely on the Liberals — continuing a war of words over the state of the government's finances.
The Finance Department said Friday there was a $2-billion deficit for fiscal 2015-16, based on preliminary estimates. The result comes before any year-end adjustments as well as a $3.7-billion commitment to benefits for veterans.
Final figures are expected to be released in the fall, but the Finance Department said the overall outcome was "broadly in line" with the $5.4-billion deficit for 2015-16 that was projected in the spring budget.
"The Conservatives have always talked a big game when it comes to balancing the budget, but their legacy amounts to them leaving behind tens of billions in additional debt with little more than a slowing economy to show for it," said Daniel Lauzon, a spokesman for Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
However, Conservative Finance critic Lisa Raitt pointed a finger at the Liberals.
"They made significant moves, they made changes to the Income Tax Act which has affected revenues, they have made changes in terms of departmental spending, that is completely within their control," said Raitt, who was in Vancouver to attend her party's convention.
Lauzon said the government is making investments to help create jobs.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Give your head a shake - Just sayin'
Federal budget 2016: Syrian refugees could cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion
Cost of Syrian refugee plan pegged at $1.2B over 6 years
Liberal government has not yet revealed specifics of its plan to resettle 25,000 refugees by Dec. 31
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/syrian-refugees-billion-six-years-1.3327780
Thanks Ralph
Fort McMurray disaster relief could cost federal government billions of dollars
OTTAWA – The federal government will likely be responsible for hundreds of millions – and potentially billions — of dollars in costs resulting from the Fort McMurray wildfires.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Wednesday the government will provide necessary federal assets, logistical support and financial aid to help respond to the fires.
One key area is the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA), which provides aid to provinces and territories in the event of a large-scale natural disaster.
The program sees the federal government eventually cover up to 90 per cent of eligible costs for responding to and recovering from a disaster, once it reaches a certain threshold.
The DFAA program will begin doling out dollars when eligible costs exceed $3.03 per capita – in Alberta’s case, about $12.8 million.
The federal contribution ratchets up, and once the eligible expenditures reach approximately $64 million for Alberta, Ottawa will begin covering the remaining 90 per cent of eligible costs, according to the formula.
Eligible expenses include, but are not limited to, evacuation operations, restoring public works and infrastructure, as well as replacing or repairing basic, essential personal property of individuals, small businesses and farms.
No, the federal government is not spending more on Syrian refugees than on Fort McMurray
Exceptionnellement, Métro a décidé de traduire ce billet de l’inspecteur viral en anglais. Vous pouvez lire la version française ici.
Hi there! If you’re reading this in English, we’ve probably never met. My name is Jeff Yates, I’m a journalist with Métro newspaper in Montreal, and I run a blog on the paper’s website called Inspecteur viral («the viral inspector» – okay, it sounds cooler in French) where we fact-check (okay, debunk) viral crap on the internet.
Speaking of crap, here’s a meme that’s been shared almost 19 000 times on Facebook in the last 24 hours:
From Alberta Politics
THOSE WACKY FEDERAL TORIES! JUST HOW DUMB DO THEY THINK WE ARE? (HINT: PLENTY)
PHOTOS: Rona Ambrose dressed up in hospital scrubs and a stethoscope. Hint: She’s not a real doctor. It’s not clear from this photo, which was published on a CTV site, if the other people are real health care workers or Tory MPs. Below: Your blogger with Dr. Joe Vipond, who is a real doctor. Hint: Perfesser Dave is not a real professor. Below that: Jason Kenney. Erm, that’s it. Stephen Harper dressed as a helicopter pilot. Guess what?
Well, that was quick!
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Crown prosecutors announced there would be no appeal of the acquittal of Sen. Mike Duffy, who had been found not guilty last month of 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery.
Yesterday – that is to say, for those of you who read this later, on Wednesday – the Globe and Mail reported that former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper will now resign as MP for the Calgary Heritage riding and slip out the back door of the Parliament Buildings a final time.
The Globe’s story, and all the coverage of the same story since, seems not to have mentioned the elephant in the Parliamentary chamber, that is, the simplest explanation of why the humiliated ex-PM was sticking around so long after the Oct. 19, 2015, federal election when he obviously didn’t feel much like it. To wit: He needed to preserve his Parliamentary privilege long enough to avoid being called to testify about the shenanigans in the Prime Minister’s Office back in the days when the boys in short pants were trying to get then-Conservative Sen. Duffy to stop embarrassing the Harper Government.
Had he been called to testify, of course, the question he was bound to be asked by Mr. Duffy’s very sharp lawyer was, “How much did you know?” We can only speculate on why the former prime minister might have not wanted to have to answer such a question under oath.
Greatest Motorsports Cheats | autoTRADER.ca
http://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatures/20160411/greatest-motorsports-cheats//?utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=Display&utm_content=Billboard-NF-Motorsports_Cheats-FTL-May15&utm_campaign=CA-DSP-DT-EN-HIGHREACH#dxHR8msVLEaZsyjC.97
Thanks Randy
Thanks Randy
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)