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Official builds case for more tax cuts

By JIM FOX
Published November 12, 2006

The state of Canada's financial position - along with some anticipated tax cuts - is expected in the federal government's economic statement this month.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will present the update Nov. 23 with a "strategic" long-term plan to "protect our standard of living and high quality of life."

In suggesting tax cuts are part of the agenda, Flaherty said: "Canadians pay too much tax and the tax burden on individuals, families and business is still too great and must be reduced."

His first budget for the new Conservative government last spring made some progress in that area, including a 1 percent cut in the Goods and Services Tax. More cuts are needed to "help produce a more efficient and competitive economy," he said.

The government has room to trim taxes and spend more on programs as a huge surplus of Canadian $6.7-billion accumulated between April and August. That is $2-billion ahead of last year's pace when the annual surplus reached $13.2-billion.

Flaherty warns, however, the robust times could be waning as the economy is slowing and that will cut into government revenues.

Soldier's dad: Don't forget Afghanistan

More Canadians need to become involved in the debate over the country's mission in Afghanistan, says the father of Canada's only female soldier killed in the conflict.

Tim Goddard said this Remembrance Day is a time to celebrate the freedoms his daughter, Capt. Nichola Goddard, passionately defended.

Canadians have a duty to be better informed about the political process and discuss the war with each other and with their members of Parliament, he added.

There have been 42 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, a mission the government has extended to 2009.

News in brief

- Hundreds of "war brides" and veterans are in Canada's capital, Ottawa, this weekend for national Remembrance Day services. Many arrived aboard a special "War Brides Train" offered by Via Rail, Canada's passenger rail service. Some 40,000 war brides came to Canada in the 1940s after they were courted by Canadian soldiers during World War II.

- A citizens watchdog group is calling for politicians to undergo lie-detector tests during election campaigns after the government's decision on income trusts. Democracy Watch filed a complaint with the federal ethics commissioner saying the government clearly broke a campaign promise when it reversed itself and decided to tax the lucrative investment trusts.

- The Conservative government is having trouble enacting its key ethics bill because it has been stalled in the Liberal-dominated Senate. The upper house has returned the proposed federal accountability act to the Commons with more than 100 amendments, many of which the politicians say they won't support. The bill can't be enacted unless it has the approval of the nonelected Senate.

Facts and figures

Canada's dollar is slightly lower at 88.54 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.1294 in Canadian funds before bank exchange fees.

The Bank of Canada's key interest rate is steady at 4.25 percent while the prime lending rate is 6 percent.

Stock markets are higher, with the Toronto exchange index at 12,329 points and the Canadian Venture Exchange 2,666 points.

Lotto 6-49: Wednesday 3, 4, 20, 38, 42 and 48; bonus 34. (Nov. 4) 6, 23, 30, 33, 37 and 41; bonus 17.

Regional briefs

- The death toll from a new outbreak of C. difficile bacterium has risen to 11 at Honore-Mercier Hospital in St-Hyacinthe near Montreal. The province has launched a coroner's investigation into the situation. Investigators say it is a different strain than before when 2,000 people died in Quebec hospitals in 2003 and 2004.

- Police are trying to crack down on increased violence in downtown Halifax after the death of a U.S. sailor. Mayor Peter Kelly said there will be more police officers hired and assigned to downtown beats along with a possible citywide camera surveillance system. This follows the stabbing death of Damon Crooks, 28, of West Palm Beach outside a nightclub.

- An invasion of millions of mountain pine beetles across northern Alberta has prompted provincial officials to urge forestry companies to increase the cutting of pine trees. The scourge has ruined huge tracts of timber in neighboring British Columbia. It's the first time the rice-sized beetles have been found so far north and east.

Jim Fox can be reached at canada report@hotmail.com.

[Last modified November 12, 2006, 01:32:05]