Justin Trudeau waves while accompanied by his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, after giving his victory speech after Canada’s federal election on Oct. 19, 2015.
CHRIS WATTIE/REUTERS
It's a budget with something for everyone: tax cuts, infrastructure spending and measures to make life easier for the marginalized.
But even with a $29.4-billion deficit, the Liberal government's first federal budget didn't meet all of the promises the party made during the election campaign – and some were delayed.
Here are some of the pledges fulfilled – and others that didn't make the cut.
PROMISES KEPT
Pensions: The budget restores the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplements to 65 from 67, and increases the GIS top-up for single, low-income seniors by 10 per cent. That means the lowest-income seniors will receive up to $947 more a year. However, on enhancing the Canada Pension Plan, the Liberals say only that they will make a collective decision with the provinces and territories by the end of this year.
Canada Child Benefit: The government is following through on its new child benefit payment, which it says will help nine out of 10 families save an estimated $2,300 a year. The benefit provides up to $6,400 annually for each child under the age of 6, and $5,400 for each child between the ages of 6 and 17. But some accountants say it's not as much as was originally promised by the Liberal government, since the previous benefit regime is being phased out at a much faster rate. The new child benefit is still worth several thousands a year more than the combined equivalents under the previous Conservative government.
Income splitting: The Liberals said in their platform they would cancel income splitting and other benefits for wealthy families, although pension splitting will not be affected. In the budget, the government commits to eliminating income splitting for couples with children under 18, resulting in a savings of almost $4.4-billion over the next three years.
Veterans offices and benefits: The Liberals have pledged to reopen the nine veterans' affairs offices closed under the Conservative government, adding one more in Surrey, B.C., and to provide more support for disabled and injured veterans, promising $3.7-billion this year alone.
First Nations funding: The government will lift the 2-per-cent cap on First Nations program funding, a major point of contention in aboriginal communities since it was imposed in the 1990s. Education funding alone increases by $670-million over the next two years.
Improving the socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples
Other initiatives
Education, children and training
Rebuilding the relationship
Green infrastructure
Social infrastructure
$2.5 billion
2
1.5
1
.5
0
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
Other initiatives
Social infrastructure
Green infrastructure
Education, children and training
Rebuilding the relationship
$2.5 billion
2
1.5
1
.5
0
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
Other initiatives
Education, children and training
Rebuilding the relationship
Green infrastructure
Social infrastructure
$2.5 billion
2
1.5
1
.5
0
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
Other initiatives
Social infrastructure
Green infrastructure
Education, children and training
Rebuilding the relationship
$2.5 billion
2
1.5
1
.5
0
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2020-21
2019-20
Climate change: As promised, the government will create a $2-billion low-carbon economy fund, to support provincial and territorial actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The government will also invest $2.1-billion for repairs and retrofits to government properties and buildings, and $50-million over two years to invest in technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector.
PROMISES BROKEN
Balancing the budget by 2019: The Liberals promised to balance the books by 2019, but their budget not only erases this promise, it makes no mention of when this will happen. Instead, the projected deficit is now $17.7-billion by election year.
5
in billions of dollars
Projected
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
‘11-
’12
‘12-
’13
‘13-
’14
‘14-
’15
‘15-
’16
‘16-
’17
‘17-
’18
‘18-
’19
‘19-
’20
‘20-
’21
5
in billions of dollars
Projected
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
2011-
2012
2012-
2013
2013-
2014
2014-
2015
2015-
2016
2016-
2017
2017-
2018
2018-
2019
2019-
2020
2020-
2021
5
in billions of dollars
Projected
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
‘11-
’12
‘12-
’13
‘13-
’14
‘14-
’15
‘15-
’16
‘16-
’17
‘17-
’18
‘18-
’19
‘19-
’20
‘20-
’21
5
in billions of dollars
Projected
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
2011-’12
2012-’13
2013-’14
2014-’15
2015-’16
2016-’17
2017-’18
2018-’19
2019-’20
2020-’21
Small business tax cuts: Instead of reducing the small business tax rate to 9 per cent over the next three years, the Liberal have frozen it at 10.5 per cent for businesses earning less than $500,000. It's still less than the previous rate of 11 per cent – but the government isn't going to follow through on the Conservatives' legislated reduction to 9 per cent.
Stock options: The budget makes no mention of the campaign promise to set a cap on how much can be claimed through corporate stock option reductions. In their platform, the Liberals estimated 8,000 wealthy Canadians deduct an average of $400,000 from their taxable incomes via stock options. But Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Tuesday those options help attract and retain top talent, so it's no longer part of the plan.
PROMISES DELAYED
Veterans' lifetime pensions: The Liberals promised to re-establish lifetime pensions as an option for injured veterans, instead of lump-sum payments. Although Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr said in January his department was working on it, the option was not presented in this year's budget.
Canadian Infrastructure Bank: The government promised to create an infrastructure bank to provide low-cost financing for new projects, saying the government could use its strong credit rating and lending authority to make it easier for municipalities to build projects. That initiative was nowhere to be found Tuesday as the government announced the first phase of its $11.9-billion infrastructure spending program, although Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi has said he will be working to develop it.
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