By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI Canada, January 28th, 2009
The Canadian government brought in a massive deficit budget, the biggest in Canadian history. What does it mean for you and me? Probably not allot. Are you going to get all excited and start spending money if they give you a $100, $200 or $500 tax saving. Not if you just lost your job or think it could happen in the next few months. One commentator said a single mother with one child and $20,000 in income would get about $500 back in their taxes. Whoopee, she’s still $4,000 below the poverty line. Is her extra $500 going to make the economy boom?
The $1,350 home reno tax credit is another good one. Spend or borrow, God forbid, $10,000 and they’ll refund $1,350 next year. If you’re worried about the economy, and you should be, you are trying to pay down your debts not spend $10k at Home Depot to get $1k back next year. Maybe if you already have the money, or were going to spend it already and Home Depot gives you one years terms. Nah, still a bad deal. The renovation tax credit is a gift to the upper middle class with assured jobs, whoever they are.
The real money in this budget is $70 billion to banks, and those massive infrastructure project that benefit big and rich construction companies. It will create jobs for tradesmen and more wealth for the wealthy.
The budget contains no major changes in social programs, for the poor or working poor. About $400 million in social housing is announced but what is it. Usually those projects end up funnelling money to the landowners. On PEI, the last round of social housing money may as well been paid directly to politically connected landowners since almost no new new social housing stock was created.
No help for Canada’s disabled who represent 14% of the population. A pittance put aside of aboriginals and $50 billion to buy mortgages from banks, to keep them solvent. Not a budget for the people, just crumbs from the table.
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