Roundup: What the budget leaks reveal

Posted on by

We are on or about day forty-three of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it looks like Russian units have pulled out now from around Kyiv and Chernihiv, back into Russia or Belarus in order to resupply and reorganise, and the expectation is that they will move toward the Donbas region, which Russia says it wants to “liberate.” That has Ukrainian authorities encouraging people in the region to evacuate before they come under fire. On a related note, the mayor of Mariupol says that at least 5000 civilians have been killed in his city including 210 children, and that 90 percent of the city’s infrastructure has been destroyed, because that’s what Russia does.

Closer to home, it is the great pre-budget tradition of leaks from the PMO in order to set the stage for the main event. So far, we have leaks on:

  • Defence spending—as much as $8 billion will apparently be allocated (though who knows if they will have the capability to actually spend it, as they can’t with their current allocation)
  • The promised surtax on big banks and insurance companies who profited during the pandemic, which they hope will raise $1.2 billion per year for the next three years.
  • They plan to allocate $10 billion to housing over five years to implement the various measures from their platform, including $4 billion to help municipalities update their zoning and permitting to hopefully unclog that particular bottleneck.
  • There are hints coming that it may “overperform” in its fiscal anchors because of the roaring economy boosting revenues.

And of course, the usual wailing and rending of clothes by a subset of economists who think that enhancing the social safety net is expansionary fiscal policy that will force the Bank of Canada to fend for itself in tackling inflation.

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1511835606132830211

Meanwhile, here are Chrystia Freeland’s budget shoes. This was the first time federally that the event had taken place in a women’s shoe store (as she had them delivered to her home last year because of the pandemic). And thankfully, she didn’t try something gimmicky.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau reminds us that the symbolic gesture of expelling Russian diplomats would deprive us of eyes on the ground in Moscow (with no independent media).
  • Mélanie Joly has tasked her deputy minister with summoning the Russian Ambassador to demand an accounting for war crimes in Bucha and other cities.
  • Steven Guilbeault approved the Bay du Nord offshore oil project with 137 conditions, citing its lower emission profiles, while an oil sands project was rejected.
  • Pablo Rodriguez says that he has learned from Australia’s mistakes when it comes to the bill on forcing web giants to pay for news.
  • The government is speeding up the cash advance programme for farmers as a way to maximise food production in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
  • Healthcare workers are looking to the federal government for $2 million in order to develop a health human resources plan for the foreseeable future.
  • As you have probably heard already, some Liberal backbenchers are vocal in their desire for a more “responsible” budget (whatever that is supposed to mean).
  • Leona Alleslev has made her candidacy official, and says that the late announcement doesn’t mean she’s behind in organising.
  • Jean Charest is proposing a criminal law against blockading critical infrastructure, and took a swipe at Pierre Poilievre over it in the process.
  • Ontario has announced a hotline, plus supports including health coverage for displaced Ukrainians arriving in the province.
  • A Northern Saskatchewan First Nation is receiving a $43 million settlement and having 16,000 hectares of land returned as a treaty oversight was corrected.
  • Howard Anglin denounces recall legislation as fundamentally unconstitutional for our system of parliamentary democracy.
  • Althia Raj wonders if Jagmeet Singh and the NDP will face blowback for their support of the Liberals after the approval of Bay du Nord.
  • Colby Cosh explains how the spate of cannabis store robberies happening in Alberta have been aided by all of the federal regulations around the stores’ appearances.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.