2011 Federal budget leads to election
By Emma Goodmere
CUP Ottawa Bureau Chief
and
Leanna Roy
News Editor
March 29, 2011
Opposition leaders immediately rejected the Conservative government's budget last week. The Harper government has been defeated in the House of Commons on a non-confidence motion supported by the opposition, setting the stage for a federal election in early May.
Within hours of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s unveiling of the 2011 federal budget, opposition and lobby group leaders alike made it clear they were not in a position to support the government’s financial proposals.
In the House of Commons, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP Jack Layton all said the budget didn't contain enough to warrant their support.
"We find that the priorities of this government are not the priorities of ordinary Canadians," Ignatieff said. "This is a government that doesn't seem to be listening to what Canadian families are telling us," he said. "We're forced to reject this budget."
“It was very under whelming,” said Dave Molenhuis, national chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students.
“It failed to address what we were hoping it would, which are the systematic issues of chronic under funding, higher and higher tuition fees, more in the way of student debt and a lack of non-repayable financial assistance for those who need it most.”
Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) national director Zach Dayler agreed more student support could have been present, but appreciated that more attention was paid to part-time students — particularly in the form of allowing them to make up to $100 a week, previously $50, without seeing their student loans affected.
“The income work exemption is something we’ve been lobbying on quite a bit,” he said, adding that $200 would be ideal.
“We can’t forget that there are a lot of students … who are maxing out their student loan and they’re turning to private means,” he continued.
“We need to see a fundamental investment in terms of the money that we’re putting into the Canada Student Loans Program,” he continued. “It’s a start, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Molenhuis pointed out that other measures included in the budget for part-time students, such as cutting the interest on loans that part-time student currently have to pay while pursuing studies, aren’t enough to make a significant financial difference.
“If you take a look at what actually will change in the pocketbook of the individuals, it’s pocket change for part-time students — so it’s certainly not a comprehensive strategy to support them,” he said.
NDP post-secondary education critic and Manitoba MP Niki Ashton stated that for student assistance to be more effective, it has to be available before students enter their studies.
“This budget does nothing to [address] tuition fees and invest in post-secondary education in a way that makes education more affordable at the front end,” she said.
“Students are overall — across the board, whether it’s part-time or full-time — struggling to pay for an education, period. And that’s what we need the government to be tackling.”
Perhaps the most highlighted item in the budget that was targeted at students was the government’s pledge to forgive student loans of up to $40,000 for new doctors and $20,000 for new nurses and nurse practitioners that plan to work in rural communities.
Molenhuis dismissed the proposal, calling it a “back-ended measure.”
“When it comes to addressing that problem, the doctor shortage, what we need to do is actually help those people from those communities get through the front doors of our medical schools and nursing schools, and the best way to do that is to address the up-front cost issue,” said Molenhuis.
While an additional $37 million in annual funding was earmarked for the three federal granting councils, $80 million in new funding was set to be distributed over three years to a pilot project that would bring colleges and small businesses together to collaborate on information and communications technologies projects.
“Unless you’re a young person who has just graduated as a doctor or nurse, you’re not going to get tuition or debt relief, and we would have insisted on that,” said. Green Party leader Elizabeth May “Education needs to be accessible and affordable for any Canadian.”
Dayler agreed that the plan to forgive student loans of up to $40,000 for new doctors and $20,000 for new nurses and nurse practitioners that plan to work in rural and First Nations communities came off as unbalanced.
“The individuals who are in career-based professions will have a slight advantage in terms of paying those [loans] back. I’m not saying it’s a bad investment, but I’d like to see things like that begin to start to creep into every student’s reality.”
Despite the generally negative reception, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) strongly welcomed the Government of Canada's continued support for university research and international engagement as announced in Budget 2011.
This is potentially good news for the University of Windsor, which is comprised of over 10 per cent international students from nearly 100 countries, and in a region where 20 per cent of area residents were born outside of Canada.
"This budget represents tremendous progress for the university sector,” stated AUCC president Paul Davidson.
The $37 million increase in the annual investment in the three major granting councils will help universities pursue the research that drives innovation and produce the highly educated employees needed in all sectors of the economy.
Fred O'Riordan, national tax adviser at Ernst and Young, said he was skeptical about how far these funds could take the country in terms of innovations.
"There's a lot going on, but it doesn't add up to a lot. It makes you wonder how much of a difference it will really make," he said, noting that government is likely hesitant to initiate new program spending. "It's not really what people are looking for."
"Canadians know that we have to increase productivity in order to prosper in the new global economy," says Mr. Davidson. "These investments are leveraging university research, innovation and knowledge to make this happen."
Some observers are calling the budget "a dog's breakfast" because of all of the small measures in it. "There seems to be something for everybody," said Scott Clark, a former deputy finance minister in the late 1990s. "If there's an election, this is their platform," he said, adding that he views it as a "purely political budget."
The budget includes about $2.3 billion of new spending — at one per cent, the lowest increase in years.
The spending equals the unexpected growth in revenues and some cost savings, leaving the projected deficit unchanged. Cost savings will come partly by closing some tax loopholes, which Flaherty said will not make the richest Canadians happy, and by launching more strategic reviews of government departments.
By 2015-16, Canada will have a surplus of $4.2 billion, according to the government's plan. |
