2012 Federal Budget

[jar_e]

I guess the penny is gone and CBC's funding is cut 10%. Getting all of this from twitter...no new prisons, a lot of money set aside for infrastructure.

[GirlySports]

OAS up to 67 years old by 2023. If you're 54 by year's end, you're ok!

Retirement age in the public service from 60 to 65 and their pensions cutback.

[topfiverecords]

Say goodbye to the phrase "A penny for your thoughts".

[Regular_John]

I for one, welcome the death of the penny.

[Jacks]

About time the penny was gone. Would have liked to see the CBC cut by 50%.

Good start anyway.

[Azure]

Lots of good stuff.

- The Old Age System (OAS), the backbone of the country's public pension system, will be changed, starting in 2023, so that the age of eligibility is gradually increased to 67 from 65. The controversial change will affect Canadians under the age of 54.

Should have lowered the clawback limit as well. OAS should strictly be a welfare program designed to help people who will have a tough time retiring on their own dime. I would actually prefer to abolish the program completely within the next 20 years, and just use GIS instead. We surely don't need two.

- Government funding and incentives on industrial research will be shifted to promote commercial innovation to boost the economy.

- Environmental reviews of major oil, gas and mining projects will be shortened to ensure the ventures get off the ground sooner to promote economic development, and some reviews will be handed to the provinces only.

- The immigration system will be reformed to process applicants faster and emphasize getting skilled immigrants into the country to fill vacant jobs.

- Government program spending will be slashed by $5.2 billion within three years, a 6.9-per-cent reduction of the $75 billion in programs that were reviewed.

- Within the public service, 19,200 jobs will be eliminated over three years (4.8 per cent of the workforce), including 600 senior executives.

- The federal deficit, forecast to be $24.9 billion for the fiscal year ending this month, will be eliminated by 2015-16.

- The country's economy is forecast to grow by 2.1 per cent this year and 2.4 per cent next year.

- The military's budget will be cut by $1.1 billion within three years, while the Foreign Affairs Department will see its funding cut $168 million by 2014-15. Foreign aid will be sliced by $378 million within three years.

- Charities will be required to provide more information about their political activities and their funding from foreign sources.

- There are no major tax reductions and the government says there are no tax increases.

- The employment insurance system will be retooled to cap premium increases and to introduce pilot projects that remove "disincentives" for people on EI to also find work.

- The penny will removed from circulation this autumn, saving the Canadian economy about $11 million a year.

- The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the country's national broadcaster, will see its government funding slashed by $115 million — about 10 per cent.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/business/Budge...#ixzz1qXZd1g4V

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Jacks

About time the penny was gone. Would have liked to see the CBC cut by 50%.

Good start anyway.

10% per year until its gone is fine by me.

I would have liked a minimum of $5 billion cut per year from program spending until the deficit is gone. Don't care how its done - just do it.

But a good start indeed. Should be interesting what they do next year.

[Canehdianman]

All in all, looks like a pretty solid budget.

Removing the penny really surprised me. It makes sense, but I didn't think it would happen.

I'm all in favour of the aboriginal education funding as well. I'm against pretty much every other form of funding made to aboriginals, but I'll gladly pay for education. As far as I'm concerned, it's the first step to getting rid of the tragic reserve system we have.

And no one under 40 should be counting on OAS to be there when we retire anyways.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

All in all, looks like a pretty solid budget.

Removing the penny really surprised me. It makes sense, but I didn't think it would happen.

I'm all in favour of the aboriginal education funding as well. I'm against pretty much every other form of funding made to aboriginals, but I'll gladly pay for education. As far as I'm concerned, it's the first step to getting rid of the tragic reserve system we have.

And no one under 40 should be counting on OAS to be there when we retire anyways.

Yep. If done right it can be pretty effective. Hopefully they take the time to watch where the money goes to make sure it is being spent efficiently and effectively.

[Bigtime]

The Harper government eliminating the penny is clearly part of a diabolical scheme to promote Nickleback.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by bigtime

the harper government eliminating the penny is clearly part of a diabolical scheme to promote nickleback.

baaaa-zinggggggggg!!!!!

[Kybosh]

The budget is doubling the $ for IRAP (Industrial Research Assistance Program). Anybody want to make a start-up company with me?

[sevenarms]

They should of ended the CBC and sold off its assets. Scratch $1 billion+ off the budget.

[Daradon]

Thanks for the updates Azure.

Disappointed about the part about shorting the environmental reviews, but obviously not surprised.

Getting rid of the penny makes sense, but it's such a small thing anyway. Save 11 mill? Yay?

The changes to OAS makes sense too.

[Canehdianman]

One other area I wished he had touched on was amending mortgage rules.

I would have liked to see the minimum downpayment pushed up to 8-10%. Heck, I'd even like to see the maximum amortization period lowered to 25 years.

Partly because I think it would be a good policy and help stabilize house prices, and partly because then some schmuck who bought a $1.5 million house would lose it and I could snatch it for 700k.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by sevenarms

They should of ended the CBC and sold off its assets. Scratch $1 billion+ off the budget.

The only contributions CBC has are HNIC and the Olympics. The rest of the time, they can just turn of the lights and no one would notice.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by darklord700

The only contributions CBC has are HNIC and the Olympics. The rest of the time, they can just turn of the lights and no one would notice.

You are wrong, I know a lot of people who would notice. I know many people who watch the following CBC shows:

22 Minutes
Arctic Air
Dragons' Den
the fifth estate
George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight
Heartland
Hockey Night in Canada
Little Mosque on the Prairie
Marketplace
Mr. D
The National
Republic of Doyle
The Rick Mercer Report

[Bigtime]

I enjoy listening to Q when I get a chance, it's even begun to get quite the following in the US.

[Voodooman]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

OAS up to 67 years old by 2023. If you're 54 by year's end, you're ok!

Retirement age in the public service from 60 to 65 and their pensions cutback.

Actually, public service pensions weren't cutback, but the contribution rate was raised (currently 37%, going up to 50%). And the change in retirement age is only for new hires starting in 2013, not current employees. As well, the government is eliminating the severance pay program through the collective bargaining process.

As a civil servant, I think the budget was quite fair. Belt tightening is required, but is being done in a deliberate way to esnure services aren't impacted while making the necessary cuts. The unions will piss and moan to high heaven about it, but please don't paint all of us with the same brush. Most of us are hard-working and appreciative of the jobs we have.

[Ozy_Flame]

^^ Most of those are wretched programs I would never watch. That's just me though.