At what cost?: the impacts of rushing to balance the budget

Author / Creator

Macdonald, David, author

Summary

"The fall economic update will likely reiterate and potentially advance the balance date of the federal budget to the next fiscal year. The Conservative government has held off on introducing new p...

"The fall economic update will likely reiterate and potentially advance the balance date of the federal budget to the next fiscal year. The Conservative government has held off on introducing new policy initiatives announced in recent budgets, most of them on the tax front, until the budget was in surplus. While there was a political rush to meet these surplus commitments, there was no economic imperative. In fact, rapid cuts to balance the budget have lead to weaker economic growth and a weaker job market in already precarious times. ... This report overviews the extent of federal government cuts and provides tangible examples of how these cuts have negatively impacted important public services. Given that the government has not been forthcoming about which programs have been cut and to what extent, this report examines spending and staff cuts as a proxy for service impacts"--

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