The 2012 Federal Budget announced yesterday evening seems very appropriate for the times. As of late we are constantly being reminded to live within our means by the government and I think the 2012 Budget shows that the Conservatives are putting their money where their mouth is. No pun intended. The Federal Government is committing to eliminate Canada’s $33.9 billion deficit by 2015.
Anybody who has tried to eliminate their personal debt knows that it doesn’t disappear with out some sacrifices and pain. Ottawa plans to chop 19,200 public-service jobs, cut federal program spending by $5.2-billion a year and, in perhaps its most controversial move, extend the retirement age of millions of Canadians to 67.
So if the Federal Government has committed to paying down the deficit in 2015 when will you eliminate your personal debt? For a free consultation and access to my debt elimination software Interest Blocker get in touch with me today.
Not up for reading the voluminous 2012 Budget this weekend? Here are 38 highlight worth noting.
The budget will:
- Gradually raise the age of eligibility for Old Age Security from 65 to 67 beginning in 2023.
- Contain no new taxes or tax increases.
- Tell consumers to complain directly to food companies about product labelling.
- Eliminate the penny.
- Eliminate 19,200 government jobs over three years, including 600 senior executives and 7,200 through attrition.
- Reform regulation in the resource industry, including amending the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
- Allow Canadians to claim more goods duty-free at the border. The limit after 24 hours goes from $50 to $200.
- Cap EI premium rate increases to 5 cents a year until the fund is balanced again.
- Cut $2.1 billion from the Department of National Defence over the next three years.
- Cut funding to the CBC by 10 per cent over three years totaling $115 million.
- Cut funding to Elections Canada by $7.5 million a year starting in 2012-13.
- Give $5.2 billion over 11 years to the Canadian Coast Guard.
- Give $67 million to the National Research Council to refocus on “business-led, industry-relevant research.”
- Streamline overall regulatory reviews of major economic projects.
- Provide $275 million to build and renovate schools on reserves.
- Pass legislation to create standards for First Nations education.
- Refund $130 million in application and processing fees to skilled foreign workers stuck in immigration limbo.
- Raise the retirement age of public servants from 60 to 65, for new employees beginning in 2013.
- Increase employee-contribution levels to pension plans for those working in Canadian Forces, RCMP, Public Service Commission and parliamentarians.
- Make the Governor General pay income tax beginning in 2013.
- Shut down the Public Appointments Commission, Assisted Human Reproduction Canada, and the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.
- Sell official residences abroad, generating $80 million in revenue.
- Standardize all government emails to one system.
- $205 million over one year for Hiring Credit for Small Business.
- Give $50 million over two years to Youth Employment Strategy.
- Give $150 million over two years on Community Infrastructure Improvement fund
- Give $105 million next year to Via Rail for operational and capital projects.
- Give $101 million over next five years for Esquimalt Graving Dock.
- Give $50 million over two years to protect wildlife at risk.
- Provide $450 million for sports facilities in the Greater Toronto Area for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games.
- Give $8 million to clean up low-level radioactive waste in Port Hope and Clarington, Ont.
- Provide $44 million over two years to the Canadian Grain Commission to reform their funding model.
- Provide $13.5 million over two years to improve pipeline safety.
- Give $35.7 million over two years to improve tanker safety and inspections, emergency preparedness related to oil spills and updated charts for shipping routes.
- Announce a new global commerce strategy in 2013 that sets trade priorities.
- Provide $9.6 million over three years to the RCMP to fight counterfeiting.
- Give $ 99.2 million over three years to help the provinces create permanent flood mitigation measures.
- The Government has found $5.2 billion in ongoing savings from departmental spending or less than two per cent of federal program spending.
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