Tories to unveil new promises

November 23, 2006
23 November 2006
 
Tories to unveil new promises
 
This article is excerpted from the 23 November 2006 edition of “globeandmail.com”.
 
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will use the fall fiscal update today to make a fresh set of Conservative political promises when he unveils a blue book of roughly 90 pages laying out a Tory economic plan for the next decade.
 
While today's update won't deliver immediate tax or spending measures, he says the economic agenda will serve as a "road map" for Budget 2007 and beyond on what policies the Tories will follow.
 
Mr. Flaherty, who has repeatedly said he believes Canadians are still overtaxed, is expected to signal the need for more personal and business tax cuts to help preserve Canada's living standards amid increasingly brutal global competition.
 
The plan is expected to say that preserving prosperity requires reducing taxes; rebuilding crumbling highway and border infrastructure with private sector help; boosting education and skills training funding; and bolstering corporate research-and-development activity and firms' access to capital.
 
Mr. Flaherty will identify "five strengths" in the economy and ways to enhance them, and a plan to build on petroleum-rich Canada's status as an energy superpower.
 
He'll also update Canadians on the size of the budget surplus, expected to have grown because of Tory spending restraints and a stronger-than-expected influx of personal income-tax revenue.
 
Private-sector predictions for the surplus range from $4.6-billion to $7.2-billion….
 
Economists warn that Mr. Flaherty should start dampening expectations for what he can accomplish in the next budget, given a backlog of pricey political promises and the slowing North American economy….

Topic(s): 
Canadian Economy & Politics
Information Source: 
Canadian News Channel
Document Type: 
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