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budget 2013
Mr. Flaherty may indeed eliminate the deficit in 2015-16 as planned. We hope he does. But his plan as conceived still contains considerable risk that shouldn't be ignored. More conservative revenue forecasts and lower program spending would reduce these risks and help to ensure he can deliver on his promise.
To achieve the target of eliminating the deficit by 2015-16, the government announced new commitments that are intended to restrain the growth of spending. This is perhaps partly in recognition of the slow economic growth environment and the fact that robust revenue growth cannot be counted on as the sole basis for returning to balance.
Highly skilled union negotiators have been playing the federal government like a sucker at a high-stakes poker game, using rich contract settlements at government-owned companies as examples for the next round of demands from the government itself.
