Liberals plan to take Torries to the polls
Posted Mar 22, 2011 01:11:16 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The federal Liberals appear to be taking no chances in making sure tomorrow’s confidence motion topples the Conservatives’ minority government.
They are mulling over an amendment to the motion to include reference to International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda being in contempt for misleading Parliament.
The motion already targets the government for failing to fully disclose the cost of its tough-on-crime agenda, corporate tax cuts and plans to buy fighter jets.
The steps toward a spring election have been in the making since opposition parties voiced disapproval of the federal budget on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper then announced Wednesday he would not call a spring election, saying he won’t go to the Governor General to dissolve parliament and launch an election campaign before the commons votes on the budget.
The Harper government’s latest budget includes about $2 billion in new spending.
It includes a return of the home energy retrofit program for an extra year at a cost of 400 (m) million dollars.
Additional pension benefits will give the very poorest seniors an extra 600-dollars a year for singles and 840-dollars for couples.
There are also new tax credits for caregivers, parents of children enrolled in arts classes and for volunteer firefighters.
Another new program promises student loan forgiveness of up to 40-thousand dollars for doctors and 20-thousand for nurses who practice in rural areas but is budgeted for just nine (m) million dollars a year.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty predicts the economy will grow by 2.9 per cent this year. He says his plan would see a projected deficit of 40.5 billion dollars for fiscal 2010, which would be virtually eliminated by 2014-15.
