Budget boosters

The budget isn't until tomorrow, but thanks to the miracle of modern news management, we already know what's in it. Some themes: It's a boost to ... everything Martin budget to boost greenhouse technology Pre-election budget to boost funding for health Budget to boost funding on education, new skills Budget to boost funding for rapid transit in major cities It's all about prudence Budget to emphasize Martin's fiscal prudence Budget expected to reflect Goodale's prudence 'Prudence' in budget will curb spending Depending on how you define prudence Goodale to raid $5 billion surplus Budget won't pay for PM's promises It's about health Budget to focus on public health It's about learning Budget to focus on youth, learning It's about him Budget puts Martin's reputation on the line But back to our message track... Back-to-basics budget Back-to-basics budget expected Expect a back-to-basics budget FACT CHECK: How "back-to-basics" will it be? Well, we already know this:

Ottawa plans to spend $149.9-billion this year By SIMON TUCK The Globe and Mail Wednesday, February 25, 2004 OTTAWA -- The federal government plans to increase program spending by more than 10 per cent during the coming year, despite Ottawa's insistence that fiscal caution is a top priority. Ottawa expects to spend an all-time record $149.9-billion during fiscal 2004-05 on program spending, which includes all items except debt payments. That's a $14.4-billion, or 10.6 per cent, increase over its spending estimates from a year earlier, according to the government's expenditure plan released yesterday... Don Drummond, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, said the federal government has had its spending taps turned on for the past eight years. "They're letting it rip."

And this:

The record $186.1-billion [including interest on the debt] Ottawa expects to spend in the next fiscal year is almost 6% more than it initially estimated it would spend this fiscal year and more than double the rate of inflation over the past year. MP Monte Solberg, the Conservative finance critic, noting an election is expected this spring, said he suspected much of the record spending total "will be geared to things that the Liberals think will get them re-elected." And he expressed skepticism about the Liberals' ability to control spending. "The fact is we've seen spending go up by 40% in the last six years," Mr. Solberg said.