Sept. 27, 2006: If you don't want someone else to ...

Be your intermediary on the budget

Read it for yourself here.

www.fin.gc.ca/

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Fiscal Reference Tables September 2006 -- details

www.fin.gc.ca/toce/2006/frt06_e.html

Preface

The Fiscal Reference Tables provide annual data on the financial position of the federal and provincial governments. The data are presented on both a Public Accounts basis—corresponding to the accounting conventions used to report financial information to the respective legislatures—as well as on a National Accounts basis—as prepared by Statistics Canada and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Backgrounder - Effective Spending

www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2006/0925_e.asp

We have found savings in these four areas:

1) Programs that weren’t providing good value for money for Canadians. For example, we are saving $13.9 million by not going forward with the High-Frequency Surface Radar project because access to the radio spectrum to operate this system is not available.

2) Unused funds from programs that have already achieved their objectives or had lower than expected take-up. For example, we are saving $15 million by having settled the softwood lumber deal. The previous government never believed it could get the deal done, so it had set large amounts of money aside to pay lawyers.

3) Efficiency savings by streamlining programs. For example, we are saving $4.5 million by consolidating some foreign missions. With the advances in telecommunication, in many cases in countries with multiple missions, work can more easily and effectively be done from a central location.

4) Non-core programs. We will save $4 million through the elimination of funding for the research into Medical Marijuana. Canada’s New Government has made big commitments to health research, and doesn’t believe the federal government needs to tell professional researchers what to study.