BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS of the 2012 Federal Budget

[MortgageQueen]

Budget Highlights of the 2012 Federal Budget


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
PanAmerican 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.


The Good News

As of 2012, Canada ranks the lowest of the G7 in debt to GDP ratio and by 2016 Canada should be only one of two that will return to a balanced budget out of the G7 countries. (see info-graphic at link below)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/budget/infographic-your-2012-federal-budget-explained/article2384109/

[Natalka]

Overall, very happy with the budget! Considering world economies, we're doing great, and I think they are on the right track.

I hadn't heard about the decrease of funding to DND, though - not sure I like that.

[MortgageQueen]

Overall, very happy with the budget! Considering world economies, we're doing great, and I think they are on the right track.

I hadn't heard about the decrease of funding to DND, though - not sure I like that.

ya. . .I found that a bit strange too. . .kind of a reversal for HArper, but also kind of strange considering the times we live in. .

[theweaves_dad]

You also did not add the changes to Cross Border Shopping:

Starting June 1,2012 Canadians will be able to declare up to $200 (from $50) after being out of Canada for 24 hours. Also the limit for 48 hours rises to $800(from $400). Also there is a small bump in limit for after 7 days of $800 instead of $750.

It is reported that the Feds will lose around $17 million per year from these changes, but say they did it to improve border wait times. Time will tell if that will happen, but with the dollar at part, I think it wil send more people south of the border which will increase the traffic at the border. Heavan help us Black Friday!

I am a bit confused over the penny. They are going to stop making it but you can still use it.... I guess the idea is, as people use them in stores etc. they will get taken out of circulation and over time, no more pennies....

If they would just stop making those stupid plastic bills!!!! Ugh they are aweful and I have only seen the $100 ones, apparantly the $50's are out too. I hate em... they stick like crazy!

[theweaves_dad]

Just in case you can't sleep one night:

http://www.budget.gc.ca/2012/plan/toc-tdm-eng.html

[Natalka]

weave, she did mention part of it.
However, I don't think it will send more people really - more like encouraging more people to tell the truth, I believe, because the numbers are more realistic.

As for pennies - gosh, maybe people will roll them and cash them in, finally! That was part of the problem in the first place, people hoarding them and not spending them, and the mint having to continually make new ones, which was expensive.

Haven't seen/felt a new bill yet - hundreds and fifties are out of our range, lol!

[bmpsmommy]

I love that they have increased the limit for cross border shopping....though I usually buy groceries, so I don't pay duty on them anyway

Good riddance to the penny. It seems to add weight to my change purse. I rolled up all my loose change that I had been saving and had almost $30 in pennies

[lekate]

You also did not add the changes to Cross Border Shopping:

Starting June 1,2012 Canadians will be able to declare up to $200 (from $50) after being out of Canada for 24 hours. Also the limit for 48 hours rises to $800(from $400). Also there is a small bump in limit for after 7 days of $800 instead of $750.

It is reported that the Feds will lose around $17 million per year from these changes, but say they did it to improve border wait times. Time will tell if that will happen, but with the dollar at part, I think it wil send more people south of the border which will increase the traffic at the border. Heavan help us Black Friday!

I am a bit confused over the penny. They are going to stop making it but you can still use it.... I guess the idea is, as people use them in stores etc. they will get taken out of circulation and over time, no more pennies....

If they would just stop making those stupid plastic bills!!!! Ugh they are aweful and I have only seen the $100 ones, apparantly the $50's are out too. I hate em... they stick like crazy!

I like the new bills, and they're nearly impossible to counterfeit, so that's wayyy bettter than our current bills! I don't find they stick at all and I deal with them often...

[lekate]

- Tell consumers to complain directly to food companies about product labelling.

I like this one too, I deal with customer complaints (at the store level) about products and pet food often and whenever I tell them THEY should email/phone the company in question they just tell me to do it! I'm sorry but I don't know all the details, I can't just reiterate that you thought it 'smelt' funny. I would tell people to contact the company themselves when I worked at Loblaws too regarding food stuffs and they just looked at me like I was being ridiculous! Ugh. Oh well. /rant

[zoolou]

Im soooo relieved that they didnt touch their gold-plated pensions and make me work till i'm 67....whew!!

[TaraF]

Not happy with the budget but I'm sure that doesn't come as a shock to anyone IMHO allowing Canadians to bring more back from across the border duty free is only going to hurt our economy as Canadians will spend more in the US and not Canada. Not happy with the raise in age of eligibility for OAS or the cuts to the CBC as the Conservative Election Platform was based on maintaining and INCREASING both of these things and now they are downsizing them. Also not happy with them laxing the labeling laws on food, it's just going to open the doors for big corporations to bring their GMO crap into our country. And taking funding away from Elections Canada in the midst of a National Scandal is appalling. And don't even talk to me about eliminating the penny

[brunt]

I tend to be a "small c" conservative fiscally speaking. I tend not to fall in love with any one party.

I don't really like the budget. It could be far, far worse, but it certainly could be better.

I believe that the raising of the age for OAS is going to come back to bite them on the butt. I personally don't care about this change, I am young enough that I am affected, but am pragmatic enough to have never counted on receiving this money in my plans.

On the changes to the pension plans, the government is setting the stage for outright intergenerational warfare. Zero cuts for the currently and nearly retired, and cuts for the young. This comes on top of higher contribution rates for the young, while keeping benefits levels the same for the currently and nearly retired. At some point, the younger are going to say "enough", and demand some cuts to those currently drawing benefits. After all, the plan is in trouble because payments are too large compared to past contributions. The way to fix this is not to increase contributions on the young while reducing their benefits just so that the current benefits can stay in place for the currently retired.

This is a minefield for politicians, but one that should have been addressed long ago when it became more than abundantly clear that demographic trends would not support the original plan assumptions. But as Gramma used to say "The best time to plant an oak tree is 40 years ago. The second best time is today." This should be addressed, and fixed fairly - not just on the backs of the young.

The budget for the CBC should be cut to zero. I don't get taxpayer subsidies for my job, and neither should they. If government wants to maintain a certain amount of Canadian content, then legislate that broadcasts must contain a threshold amount of Canadian material, not just throw scads of money at the select few (or one, in this case). The Canadian government is free to buy from my competitors, but buys from my employer because we have the best product, not because there is Canadian content. Taxpayers should have the same opportunity. Of course, I refuse to watch any TV, so I believe that any money going to TV broadcasters is a total waste of money.

The penny should have been gone a long time ago. But this is just masking the real problem, which is a longstanding and insidious inflation. Get rid of the problem of inflation, and the problems of coins being to expensive to mint goes away forever. But alas, there appears to be no political will to do this.

And as far as what was not in the budget:

1) Maximum mortgage amortizations should have been reduced to 25 years. The government should not be encouraging people to take on more debt.

2) CMHC should have been changed dramatically. Taxpayers are on the hook for mortgages for people who have no business buying houses, all just to take risk away from the banks. In my opinion, the banks decide to whom to give the mortgage, then they should be on the hook for the risk, NOT the taxpayer.

3) There should have been some far larger cuts in the budget. It is high time that the government admitted that it has a spending problem, not an income problem. You and I have to balance our books, so should the government.

Spending increases in every year, the budget will only balance due to projected income increases. This means that even though tax rates won't be increasing, they are only able to balance the budget due to an increased number of tax dollars collected. Hardly fiscally responsible.

The federal civil service is still much, much bigger than when the Conservatives were first elected. I have yet to see a single problem where the best solution is to hire more government workers.

Overall, I was surprised that the budget did not do more. The first year of a majority government is the perfect time to administer the tough (but necessary) medicine. Any later, and voters will not have a chance to see the long term good brought about by the savings. This was a huge missed opportunity.

I'll give it a D+. Not a failure, but not very good.

[bmpsmommy]

I found out today that I *may* be out of a job due to all the job cuts to the federal service We will find out more in the upcoming weeks.

[aemi]

while it could've been better, I think it's a decent one. I am sorry for all the people who are going to lose jobs as a result of this budget, I hope they will be able to find a better job. I for one am satisfied with the budget.

[Ciel]

Prime Minister Harper should be attending the Cartegena Columbia conference this week by video. If he goes in person, there goes his spending restraint right out the window. If the budget by his party is suddenly insisting on federal government video conferences to save on travel, he needs to start doing the talk with his own activities. And for good measure, make his pension attainable at age 67 too. Though the $100K bonus for PMs for every year of service should have been cut already...

I was watching CPAC this morning and noticed that the Senate Committee for Official Languages on March 26 had CBC reps explaining how their regional programming is reflecting the diversity of the audiences and also meeting the linguistic aspect of their broadcasting activities. I wonder how much travel Senate Committees do in the course of their non-Ottawa meetings. Also, this March 26 broadcast was just three days before the federal budget. It's a license renewal year for the CBC. And a Senator was wondering why there seems to be a conflict about using a Radio Canada music recording for a CBC radio show when the CBC rep said that both entities are encouraged to share and to collaborate on programs. The conflict related to a music recording (made by the Senator's spouse) the Senator would have liked aired on the music composer's anniversary of his death in March but the show did not play it.

SCers ought to spend some of their tv time tuned into CPAC. It is like getting the legislative backroom insight to rules and to concerns related to doing business in Canada that most of us may not know about. And the CPAC meeting broadcasts also show which Senators seems to be on top of the reading and reports related to the meeting. Pierre De Bane on the Senate Committee for the Official Languages is one sharp person. He has noticed that news seems to be from two different countries (in regards to what is reported inside of Quebec about Canada and outside of Quebec about Canada) and that there is a Quebec world view bias apparent in some television produced by Radio Canada. But he noted that some news we might see on the National on English CBC might not get on Quebec newscasts until a much later time if at all. I found the broadcast (I watched for about an hour) fascinating and have much respect for the Committee Chair's patience with the "one more question" angle used by some Senators repeatedly.