Roundup: An upcoming rounding error surplus

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Joe Oliver delivered his fall economic update in Toronto, and as expected, the government is still technically in deficit until next year, at which point they are expected to turn out a modest $1.9 billion surplus, most of which is pretty much spent on their suite of “family” tax measures including the income splitting tax credit – all of it a challenge to the opposition parties and specifically Justin Trudeau, daring them to cancel the “tax cuts” (most of which aren’t really cuts). And it’s not a surplus plan without risks. Thomas Mulcair immediately called the figures a “mirage” because they depend on spending cuts, while Justin Trudeau referred to the tax measures as “unfair” because the income splitting measure in particular disproportionately benefits the wealthy. Andrew Coyne notes that Harper has put the opposition in a box with his tax cuts and expenditures unless those parties are willing to raise the GST. Paul Wells notes that this falls squarely within Harper’s re-election plans – that he doesn’t need to promise anything other than the fear that his opponents’ plans are ruinous. Stephen Gordon provides some context to Oliver’s pronouncements.

Good reads:

  • Kady O’Malley on the dangers of the whisper campaigns in the wake of harassment allegations.
  • Matthew Fisher on Harper’s New Zealand visit.
  • The pace of job cuts in the public service.
  • Federal lawyers asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on CSIS’ ability to track terror suspects abroad.
  • Two Canadian companies who played a role in the Rosetta spacecraft and Philae lander that landed the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet.
  • Stephen Gordon on the glorification of the manufacturing sector.
  • The strange case of what appears to be an imposter soldier who was interviewed by CBC during the Remembrance Day broadcast.

Odds and ends:

Maclean’s has a time-lapse video of the Remembrance Day ceremony here in Ottawa.

Programming note:

I am playing around with the format of the daily political roundup posts in an attempt to make them a little more streamlined, and frankly so that it takes me less time in a day to work on them given that I don’t have the same time to devote to them that I used to. Feedback is, of course, appreciated. (QP recaps will remain unchanged).