Budget Details

All three major opposition parties have rejected the government’s 2011-2012 budget. Here’s what’s in it.

The Conservatives’ 2011-2012 budget:

• Includes no new major spending cuts or increases.
• Projects a balanced budget in six years.
• Projects $10-billion growth in GDP, down from economists' $20-million projection, in a clear nod to global economic uncertainty.
• Forgives student debt up to $40,000 for doctors in rural communities, and up to $20,000 for rural nurses.
• Provides a tax credit on children’s art programs amounting to $75 for every $500 spent.
• Raises the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors to $50 per month.
• Includes a tax credit of $450 for volunteer firefighters in rural areas.
• Gives a $300 tax credit for those caring for infirm relatives.
• Outlines a “Helmets to Hardhats” program to help military veterans find employment in the construction industry.
• Includes no change in the commitment to cut corporate taxes to 15 per cent.

Absent from the budget are key concessions for the opposition parties. The Liberals had refused to endorse further corporate tax cuts, and the Bloc Québécois was seeking $2.2 billion for Quebec’s decision to introduce the Harmonized Sales Tax 19 years ago. The Tories did accede to the NDP's demand to increase benefits to seniors through the Guaranteed Income Supplement, but at half the amount Jack Layton was hoping for.

In response, Layton said his party would not support the budget in its current form, and, soon after, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the government will not make major amendments to it, setting the stage for a confidence vote that will defeat the government and trigger an election between May 2 and May 9.

Happy voting!