Conservative budget fails to impress

OK, to say that I’m not impressed with the Conservative budget shouldn’t surprise anyone, but one can always dream. “A mile wide and an inch deep” may be an apt description, but to say one inch seems a bit generous in some areas.

This budget has no vision. It’s the same that we’ve had for years, and less of it. It does nothing to begin moving our society toward a sustainable future. There is nothing to encourage a green economy and protect future generations from the effects of peak oil, there is nothing to address childhood poverty, virtually nothing to help university students lower their costs to manageable levels, and nothing to address rising health care costs through prevention.

Flaherty’s highlight seems to be his Tax Free Savings Account which will kick in after 2008. Sure, this is great, if you’ve already paid the mortgage, bought food, clothes, maxed out your RRSP, your kids RESP, and then still have an extra $5k of after tax dollars sitting around and you just can’t fit it into that overstuffed mattress. That’s a big IF. Not only is this a useless instrument for the vast majority of Canadians, but in future years it could severely erode the tax base since the people who do use it will be Canadians in the highest tax brackets who will be able to withdraw the interest on their savings tax free.

As the Toronto Star’s editorial put it, millions of lower income Canadians are receiving no help from this budget, which chooses instead to help the more well off “treat themselves.”

And then there’s Climate Change. Politicians the world over, even those conservative ones who are reluctant to accept the science, have labeled the Climate crisis as “the greatest challenge that humanity has ever faced.” And yet the Conservative answer to this greatest of challenges? Do nothing.

Admittedly, the Conservatives don’t believe climate science, despite John Bairds protestation that his crap plan is going to actually achieve something. This budget, the governments single most effective instrument in guiding the country, does absolutely nothing. A mere $250 on an effort toward carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) which, in the words of Rick Mercer, is “make believe.” Don’t get me wrong, CCS looks fine on paper and will be a very effective tool in the climate change fighting toolbox, but there is not a single commercial scale application in the world at this point, so we are banking our entire future on this non-existent technology.

This budget is nothing but another lost opportunity.

Will if force an election? It would appear not. But one can always dream.