[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[crazy canuck]

I didn't think I would ever see it. A budget that is designed to obtain benefits beyond the life of this government. Actual long term thinking.

[Grey Fox]

I did not expect it in my lifetime either.

Hopefully, it doesn't get us a Christmas election. Then again, seeing another destruction of the CCP might be worth it.

[Josephus]

Yeah pretty ballsy. I remember in my university days, I used to argue that the problem with democracy is that it was all short term planning.

No party, I used to say as I pulled on my mullet and blew smoke towards the ceiling, would campaign on a platform of "the next five years will be shit, but your grandchildren will thank you for it."

Carney didn't quite do that, but pretty close. It's pretty ballsy and it's not as tough a budget as I feared (unless you work for the government), but I wonder if it's the first of several such budgets. "Today the civil service, tomorrow the pensioners". 

[Bauer]

One con crossed to liberals. Rumours of more dissent. Libs 2 away from majority.

Carneys plan for better or worse is something I'd like to see 8 years of to give it a chance to succeed.  4 year terms are really not enough to see a public policy come into effect.

[Bauer]

Carney didn't quite do that, but pretty close. It's pretty ballsy and it's not as tough a budget as I feared (unless you work for the government), but I wonder if it's the first of several such budgets. "Today the civil service, tomorrow the pensioners". 

Yeah maybe there's more to come.  Minority gov always need to balance the need to get stuff passed too.

Some talking heads on tv were disappointed there wasn't a big tax reform, but the there is some kind of super deduction introduced for capital investment and productivity increases.  That sounds like the centre piece of the budget.

[Jacob]

Having just come out of a period of not paying attention to anything outside my household - what's the TLDR on the budget?

[crazy canuck]

Having just come out of a period of not paying attention to anything outside my household - what's the TLDR on the budget?

I think you've already gotten it. Long-term planning at the macro level. Lots of investment in infrastructure and the military.

Basically, a budget aimed at systemic structural issues rather than individual issues.

There is a lot in this budget.  It's definitely not a safe budget to avoid an election.

As others have said, it falls a bit short of expectations given all the talk that it would be transformative. It's transformative in the sense that it's actually forward looking and as we've been commenting, that's a refreshing change.

[crazy canuck]

Yeah pretty ballsy. I remember in my university days, I used to argue that the problem with democracy is that it was all short term planning.

No party, I used to say as I pulled on my mullet and blew smoke towards the ceiling, would campaign on a platform of "the next five years will be shit, but your grandchildren will thank you for it."

Carney didn't quite do that, but pretty close. It's pretty ballsy and it's not as tough a budget as I feared (unless you work for the government), but I wonder if it's the first of several such budgets. "Today the civil service, tomorrow the pensioners". 

Now you need to share pictures of your mullet.

I agree that future cuts will be coming. But I don't think it would be pensions. The pension is well funded.

I do think we will see more cuts to the federal bureaucracy.  The amount of bloat during the Trudeau years was truly astounding. Huge increase in the size of the bureaucracy with no measurable increase in services. Actually the opposite. Key services the government is supposed to provide declined over that time.

CRA is a very good example of that.

[Jacob]

I think you've already gotten it. Long-term planning at the macro level. Lots of investment in infrastructure and the military.

Basically, a budget aimed at systemic structural issues rather than individual issues.

There is a lot in this budget.  It's definitely not a safe budget to avoid an election.

As others have said, it falls a bit short of expectations given all the talk that it would be transformative. It's transformative in the sense that it's actually forward looking and as we've been commenting, that's a refreshing change.

Thanks!

What are some of the top-line items for infrastructure spending and for the military?