Budget 2005 is a “Survival Budget” for the Liberals

February 23, 2005

It’s far from perfect. The Conservative Party of Canada does not support it … but it’s not bad enough to bring down a government.

Budget 2005 created a great deal of speculation among the political pundits, the media and average Canadians. How would the federal Liberals table a budget the opposition parties, particularly the Conservative Party, could live with? If not, this minority parliament would surely fall … pitching the country into yet another election in less than a year.

It wasn’t so much that Finance Minister Ralph Goodale pulled it off, but that Conservative MPs do not believe this is the budget or the legislation to justify ending the 8-month-old 38th Parliament.

The Conservative caucus believes we have an obligation to act responsibly as the official opposition. This is not the time for political posturing. Canadians have made it explicitly clear: they do not want another election! So while, we don’t support the Liberal’s budget, we will allow it to pass, thereby ensuring the survival of the government.

The budget was a typical Liberal budget … plenty of grand, unfocused spending commitments with no plans for how to deliver … a proven recipe for billions of dollars to be mismanaged and wasted. Plus, the Liberals’ so-called tax relief adds up to just $16 next year for low- and middle-income Canadians.
Many more of the steps taken by the Liberals in this budget do not go far enough or fast enough to substantially benefit the well-being of Canadians.

So what do I like in the 2005 budget? The initiatives the Liberals stole from the Conservative Party. This includes: more funding for National Defence, which during the election campaign the Liberals had said they couldn’t afford; an increase in RRSP limits; enhancement of Capital Cost Allowance rates; the elimination of the excise tax on jewellery (conservative MP John Duncan’s private member’s bill); a caregiver tax credit (Conservative election platform); and removal of the CAIS cash deposit requirement (Conservative supply day motion).

Most of all, I was thrilled that after a four-year battle, the budget included the provisions of my private member’s bill to provide tax relief to adoptive parents. Regular readers of this column will know that I have been trying to reform our tax system to recognize the contribution to all of society made by adoptive parents.

The Liberals have finally capitulated by providing a $10,000 non-refundable tax credit for adoption expenses. I cannot begin to tell you how rewarding it has been throughout the past days as prospective adoptive parents across the country have called and emailed me to report that they may now be able to afford to start their families or to give a better life and a home to a child.

Overall, budget 2005 will be “old news” by this time next week as Paul Martin continues his role as Mr. Dithers, as the world-renowned magazine The Economist has dubbed him.

They say you should ‘pick your battles’, and given the country’s lack of appetite for another election, the Conservative Party will fight this battle another day.

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