The Citizen, 2012-04-12, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012.
The federal budget was presented
late last month and it projects $5.2
billion in savings to the country by
2015; something that should matter a
lot to the citizens of Huron-Bruce
says MP Ben Lobb.
“Fair and balanced” is how Lobb
describes the budget presented in
Ottawa on March 29 by Finance
Minister Jim Flaherty, which
delivers on an election promise
made by Lobb and the Conservative
government.
“This keeps our commitment to a
balanced budget,” Lobb said in an
interview with The Citizen.
Lobb also said the government
would review discretionary
spending, another promise he says
his government has delivered on.
He said that while he is proud of
the position the country is in and
where Canada will be in just a few
short years, it should be all
Canadians who are proud of the hard
work they’ve put in and where it’s
got them.
In addition to the projected
savings of $5.2 million, the budget
plans to cut 19,200 federal public
sector jobs over the next three years
as well.
The government plans to return
the country to a surplus by 2015
even with a $21.1 billion deficit in
the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
The age of eligibility for Old Age
Security will rise from 65 to 67
beginning in 2023, but it will not
affect anyone 54 or older as of
March 31, 2012.
To put the costs of Old Age
Security into perspective, Lobb said
that of the country’s $280 billion
budget, currently $38 billion of it
goes towards Old Age Security. That
is a number, Lobb says, that as more
baby boomers reach retirement age,
will balloon to over $100 billion.
Lobb says he is supportive of this
change, but he was adamant the
change not take effect immediately.
It wouldn’t be fair to those within ayear of 65 who had been counting onOld Age Security to kick in and had
been budgetting for it.
Lobb said that when the program
was first introduced to the country,
the demographics were a lot
different than they are today.
When the program was first
brought in there were seven active
‘workers’ per retiree. Now, Lobb
says, there are four workers per
retiree and once the baby boomers
make their way to retirement age,
that ratio will jump to two workers
per every one retiree.
One of the eye-catching portions
of the budget was the
discontinuation of the penny this
fall.
According to Flaherty’s
calculations, Lobb said, every penny
costs 1.6 cents to produce. In
addition to those costs, it costs the
government $11 million to produce
the penny annually.
Lobb said that most residents will
know from their own personal
spending that the penny is becoming
less and less relevant as the years go
on, and for its production to cost $11
million per year, the move simply
made sense.
This year’s budget also states that
there will be no significant tax
increases for individuals, a move
that will mean a lot to Canadians at a
time when economic turmoil is
engulfing many countries around the
world.
Lobb says that it wasn’t just this
budget that was able to achieve that
feat. He says that the government
has been undertaking tax-saving
measures since 2006 that have
helped to put the Government of
Canada in this position.
Being able to keep taxes at a
reasonable level and balancing the
Canadian budget in just a few years,
Lobb says will have an
immeasurable impact on how
Canada is viewed on the world stage,
which should equal investment in
Huron-Bruce and dollars in the
pockets of area farmers.“As Canadians we should all beproud,” Lobb says. “We can balance
the budget and get back to paying
down the deficit.”
Lobb says Canada’s good financial
position will make it more attractive
to foreign investors looking to invest
across their border.
“It’s a continued commitment to
trade and growing trade,” Lobb said.
“This will allow for producers to
compete in markets at reduced
tariff rates and compete with the
United States on a level playing
field.”
Lobb said that Canada already has
a strong reputation for its
agricultural products and their high
level of quality, but that opening the
markets will help to increase the
rate at which those products can be
sold to foreign neighbours.
Lobb said because of the high
quality of Canadian products, if
tariff walls are broken down and
Canadian producers can compete on
a level playing field, the quality of
Canadian products will do the rest.
“We make premium products
here,” Lobb said. “If they’re
competing evenly with the United
States, our producers win every
time.”
Lobb said the trade agreements
could raise prices in the pork and
grains and oil seeds sectors and
hopefully keep beef at the high price
it’s currently being sold at.
“This is a big opportunity,” Lobb
says. “These countries love doing
business with Canada and they’re
excited about our products.”
Lobb says the budget is scheduled
to be balanced by 2015, but that in
all likelihood it could be balanced as
early as 2014. At that time, Lobb
says, Canadians can return to the
Canada they have been used to for
years.
“We can have a Canada that we allknow and love,” Lobb says. Other highlights of the federal
budget include:
• Duty-free cross-border shopping
limits will rise this summer to $200
for 24-hour trips and to $800 for
trips of 48 hours or more.
• As of 2013 the Governor General
will now pay income taxes.
• CBC funding will be cut by 10per cent over the next three yearswith annual $60 million
programming top-up rolled into base
funding.
• The Katimavik program for
youth will be eliminated.
• Retirement age for federal public
servants will rise from 60 to 65 for
people hired in 2013.
Continued from page 1
to begin with, that it should be ‘given
back’ to the taxpayers. If the money
was put towards the budget, the tax
levy increase could be minimized
and even reduced. Warden Bernie
MacLellan, however, told Klopp that
there was no real ‘found surplus’ just
a matter of accounting and that
money has been the county’s this
entire time.
Goderich’s Deb Shewfelt
suggested an increase of $50,000 to
the water protection budget. He said
that there will be a new Great Lakes
Protection Act coming into effect
soon that will have a dramatic effect
on Huron County communities
along the coast of Lake Huron, so
the county should begin saving for
them.
Shewfelt said $1 million should be
put away annually, but that $50,000
was “a start”.
Other small increases were
included in the budget as result of
discussion around the table such as
$5,000 for membership in the Great
Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
and a $5,000 increase to heritage
funding.
There were several increases
included in the budget presented by
Treasurer David Carey that staff had
no control over. They accounted for
a $2.436,298 increase to the levy, or
7.19 per cent. They were:
• An $884,708, or 2.61 per cent of
the county levy, increase due to
wage increases.
• A loss of Ontario Municipal
Partnership Fund money in the
amount of $446,800, or 1.32 per cent
of the levy.
• An increase to OMERS
contribution rates in the amount of
$309,358, or 0.91 per cent of the
levy.
• The liability insurance reserve in
the amount of $167,301, or 0.49 per
cent of the levy.
• A decrease to the homes for the
aged case mix index in the amount of
$152,217, or 0.45 per cent of the
levy.
• An increase to Healthkick Huron
funding in the amount of $107,950,
or 0.32 per cent of the levy.
• The county’s contribution to the
septic reinspection program in the
amount of $75,000, 0.22 per cent of
the levy.
• Corporate consulting fees
resulting from George Cuff’s review
of county efficiency in the amount of
$75,000, 0.22 per cent of the levy.
• A increase to the county’s write-
offs due to the August, 2011 tornado
in Goderich in the amount of
$50,000, or 0.15 per cent of the levy.
• An increase to the Municipal
Properties Assessment Corporation
fee for $20,370, or 0.06 per cent of
the levy.
Budget discussion
continues for county
Lobb says budget delivers on election promises
Giving back
Mary Ross was one of the many musicians performing at
Thursday night’s Me To We event at Memorial Hall in Blyth.
Full bands took the stage, as well as solo artists like Ross.
The evening was emceed by Blyth Festival regular David
Archibald and also featured dancers, performance artists
and visual artists. (Vicky Bremner photo)
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen