OTTAWA — The Conservative government tabled a pro-business budget on Thursday that also includes changes to Old Age Security, the death of the penny, cuts to the civil service and the CBC, but continued spending growth, too.
The budget was clearly a non-election year offering, lacking obvious vote-getting nods to families and interest groups and instead heavy on changes that promote research and development and will appease businesses — especially those in the resource sector, where the government announced a streamlined “one project, one review” approval process.
“The federal government is increasingly focusing on economic issues of national importance for our country,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters shortly before tabling the budget in Ottawa. “Major projects, job creation … what do we do with an ageing population?”
Under Mr. Flaherty’s Economic Action Plan 2012 — the Conservative government’s “largest” budget document, at 498 pages — the eligibility age for OAS will gradually increase from 65 to 67 beginning in 2023. OAS is the government’s single largest program, and the cost is expected to grow from $38-billion in 2011 to $108-billion in 2030 as Canadians live longer and as fewer workers emerge to fill positions vacated by retirement.
“They say 50 is the new 40,” said Elio Luongo, a managing partner at KPMG. “This is an interesting way to [encourage] people to stay in the workforce longer.”
No comments:
Post a Comment