To the Editor,
The Stephen Harper government announced with much fanfare that the budget was balanced. They will take this supposed stupendous feat of fiscal serendipity to garner votes all the way to the election – but sadly it’s not true.
The so-called balanced budget is only a hopeful forecast for 2015-16. On a total budget of over $200 billion they have managed to wangle a razor-thin excess of $1.4 billion by selling assets, over optimistic employment, interest and growth rates as well as other unestablished and frankly unverifiable scenarios.
For any of this to actually come to pass is highly unlikely. However, fortunately for the Harper gang, we will not actually find out if the budget is balanced until the public accounts come out in 2016, well after the election.
Anyone willing to bet on an actual balanced budget in 2016? Will anyone care by then?
Liz FoxLantzville