Federal Budgets
Each year, the federal government releases its budget for implementing policies, programs and practices for the following year. Examining these documents closely reveals the underlying values determining the budget’s priorities. CPJ takes an in-depth look at each budget, articulating and at times challenging these values and priorities, setting out justice-oriented priorities and alternatives.
Bill C-38 is supposed to implement provisions made in the March 29th federal budget. But as CPJ wrote 
The word “budget” is defined as “an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time”. And one would expect government budgets to be just that: an outline of planned tax and spending measures for the coming year. Most would not expect a budget bill to contain major new policy changes and give the government of-the-day sweeping new powers. At least, not until recently. 
EI was totally inadequate in responding to the 2008-09 recession: at the recession’s peak, only half of all unemployed Canadians were receiving benefits. Since then, the rate of EI coverage has declined again to the abysmal levels experienced through much of the last decade. Today, only 42% of unemployed Canadians are eligible for benefits. Instead of addressing the systemic failure of the EI system to respond to those in need, recent proposed changes to the system will curtail access further. 
In a healthy democracy citizens have a crucial role to play in determining public policy. People have a right – and, more importantly, a responsibility – to participate in the decisions affecting their country and their communities. That is the essence of democracy, especially a democracy that goes beyond the ballot box and rejects the politics of attack and vilification.
By now most Canadians have heard about the changes to seniors’ benefits announced by the federal government in Budget 2012. Beginning in 2023, the age of eligibility for Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) top-up will be increased from 65 to 67. As a result, seniors will have to work longer, draw from whatever savings they might have, hope for family support, or rely on provincial social assistance programs to get by.
Pundits have written this budget off as modest, and even better than expected after all the hype over predicted austerity measures. Finance Minister Flaherty himself emphasized that cuts to spending are much smaller than the reductions in the mid-1990s.
We’ve been warned. The next federal budget, expected in March, will be first and foremost about cuts to public programs, with the express goal of reducing the federal deficit over the next few years, and reducing the debt accumulated since the 2008-09 recession. Even as the economic news last Fall suggested that the recovery was losing steam, the Finance Minister was reconfirming the government’s intent to bring down the deficit as quickly as possible. 
The federal government's announcement last week of possible reforms to the retirement income system highlights the fact that financial decisions are never just that. We must consider the social implications behind the numbers and how they reflect our values as a nation. The 2012 federal budget will soon be tabled, and Canadians have the opportunity to make their voice heard. 
Federal budgets are meant to be about more than just finances; they’re to reflect our nation’s deeply-held values and priorities. Unfortunately, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance’s just-released pre-budget report, Staying Focused on Canadian Jobs and Growth, seems to narrowly promote the status quo. Is this what Canadians really need? 
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