surplus

Wednesday September 16, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday September 16, 2015 Harper riding high on surprise surplus Stephen Harper was hanging 10 on the crest of a surprise budget surplus Tuesday, showing off his fiscal bona fides as the federal election campaign prepared to convene in Calgary to debate the state of the Canadian economy. In British Columbia, the Conservative leader boasted about the latest Finance Department numbers, which show a $1.9-billion surplus for 2014-15 instead of a predicted $2-billion shortfall. At an event in North Vancouver, Harper wasted no time using the opportunity to mock the money-management skills of both Rachel Notley, Alberta's new NDP premier, and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. "We know why there's a recession (in Alberta) Ñ it's not because the government ran a $2-billion surplus," Harper said. "There's a recession because oil prices have fallen by half, and the recession has been made worse because the NDP government came in and followed up by raising taxes on everybody." Trudeau Ñ who has linked the economic slowdown to the government's relentless pursuit of a pre-election balanced budget Ñ seems to think that $2-billion surplus provoked a worldwide fall in oil prices, Harper continued. "I mean, seriously," an animated Conservative leader said to laughter from the partisan crowd. "They think that somehow under these conditions, plunging the country back into deficit for years to come would be a good thing. Canadians get that, given the turmoil in the world, the fact that we have a budget balanced Ñ and we're going to keep that balanced Ñ is a good thing for this country." Trudeau has criticized the surplus as a product of underspending on vulnerable Canadians Ñ an accusation the Conservatives deny. A Liberal government would stick with its plan to run deficits for the first three years in office, making investments in infrastructure and seniors despite the surplus, Trudeau has said. Monday's surpl

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 16, 2015

Harper riding high on surprise surplus

Stephen Harper was hanging 10 on the crest of a surprise budget surplus Tuesday, showing off his fiscal bona fides as the federal election campaign prepared to convene in Calgary to debate the state of the Canadian economy.

In British Columbia, the Conservative leader boasted about the latest Finance Department numbers, which show a $1.9-billion surplus for 2014-15 instead of a predicted $2-billion shortfall.

At an event in North Vancouver, Harper wasted no time using the opportunity to mock the money-management skills of both Rachel Notley, Alberta’s new NDP premier, and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

Monday, November 4, 2013“We know why there’s a recession (in Alberta) — it’s not because the government ran a $2-billion surplus,” Harper said.

“There’s a recession because oil prices have fallen by half, and the recession has been made worse because the NDP government came in and followed up by raising taxes on everybody.”

Trudeau — who has linked the economic slowdown to the government’s relentless pursuit of a pre-election balanced budget — seems to think that $2-billion surplus provoked a worldwide fall in oil prices, Harper continued.

“I mean, seriously,” an animated Conservative leader said to laughter from the partisan crowd.

“They think that somehow under these conditions, plunging the country back into deficit for years to come would be a good thing. Canadians get that, given the turmoil in the world, the fact that we have a budget balanced — and we’re going to keep that balanced — is a good thing for this country.”

Trudeau has criticized the surplus as a product of underspending on vulnerable Canadians — an accusation the Conservatives deny. A Liberal government would stick with its plan to run deficits for the first three years in office, making investments in infrastructure and seniors despite the surplus, Trudeau has said.

Monday’s surplus news couldn’t have come at a better time for Harper, who will join his NDP and Liberal counterparts Thursday in Calgary for a debate on economic issues, sponsored by the Globe and Mail and Google Canada. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

(Regina) Leader Post, September 17, 2015

(Regina) Leader Post, September 17, 2015

Edmonton Journal, September 19, 2015

Edmonton Journal, September 19, 2015

Thursday January 29, 2015

Thursday January 29, 2015Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 29, 2015

Ottawa faces deficit with low oil prices, budget watchdog says

For SalePlunging oil prices will cost Ottawa billions of dollars in lost revenue but the Conservative government has enough wiggle room in its budget to weather the turmoil and still balance the books, the parliamentary budget officer says.

A new analysis released Tuesday confirms that low oil prices mark an unwelcome development for Conservatives and their pledge to balance the books this year.

In a report, <http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/files/files/LowOilPrices_EN.pdf>  the budget watchdog assessed the shock of dropping oil prices on the federal fiscal picture and said it would mean, worst case, a deficit of $1.2 billion this year and a deficit of $400 million in 2015-16, even after exhausting a $3 billion contingency fund.

Still, officials with the parliamentary budget office said the government can tinker with its fiscal plans to show a surplus despite the oil price hit, allowing the Conservatives to keep their vow of a balanced budget

Mostafa Askari, assistant budget officer, said a balanced budget is “very feasible” in 2015-16 thanks to the government’s ability find savings by slowing spending or delaying capital projects.

“There are many ways that the government can actually find some revenues or some savings on the spending side to make sure the balance is there,” Askari said. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

Published on National Newswatch and in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Thursday November 13, 2014

Thursday November 13, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 13, 2014

Highlights from Canada’s fiscal and economic update

Finance Minister Joe Oliver delivered his annual fall update and five-year projection of the government’s fiscal situation on Wednesday.

Here are the highlights:

• A small deficit of $2.9 billion expected for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the same as projected in the February budget.

• A small surplus of $1.9 billion expected for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, much smaller than the $6.4 billion projected last February mainly because of recent announcements for spending increases and tax cuts.

• Surpluses forecast to grow slowly every year after that: $4.3 billion in 2016-2017, $5.1 billion in 2017-2018, and $6.8 billion in 2018-2019.

• Government has set aside $3 billion in contingency funds every year, including the current fiscal year. If not needed, the money goes towards the debt.

• Lower oil prices this year translated into a $500-million hit to the bottom line in 2014-2015, and $2.5 billion per year over the 2015-2019 period.

• Federal debt will rise slightly to $615.8 billion in 2014-2015 before diminishing gradually over the next five years. As a percentage of the economy, the federal debt in 2014-15 is forecast to be 31.5 per cent of GDP, dropping slowly over the coming years to 24.3 per cent in 2019-2020.

• Overall federal tax burden drops to lowest level in 50 years for now, but personal income tax as a percentage of GDP expected to reach 7.1 per cent next year, up from 6.9 per cent this year, and 7.3 per cent in 2019-2020.

• The government has recommitted to introducing balanced budget legislation, a promise made initially more than a year ago in the 2013 throne speech.

• Economists told Ottawa to expect real growth of 2.4 per cent in 2014 and 2.6 per cent in 2015. Those projections were made in September before commodity prices tanked; the government has had to trim expectations for government revenue.

• The employment insurance account has a $3.8-billion surplus in 2014-2015, $3.9 billion in 2015-2016 and $4.5 billion in 2016-17 — allowing the government to stay in the black despite new spending and tax cuts. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5024559-10-highlights-from-canada-s-fiscal-and-economic-update/

Meanwhile, A European robot probe has made the first, historic landing on a comet, but its status remains uncertain after harpoons failed to anchor it to the surface.

Officials said the craft may have lifted off the comet after touchdown before returning to the surface.

Lander project manager Stephan Ulamec said: “Maybe we didn’t just land once, we landed twice.” (Source: BBC News)

 

August 28, 2006

Does it look too wierd? From time to time I like to focus on subject matter from different angles. Todays was from directly above. I don’t know how effective it comes across but it took a lot of work and self doubt before it was finally done.

It shows Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty swimming in surplus cash. While green money is distinctive of American dollars it still makes sense, to me at least, to represent Canadian money as green as well, despite in reality it’s multicoloured. For those who thought I painstakingly drew each and every bill you’ll be disappointed to find out that it’s simply a multitude of the same image, cut and copied, slightly rotated, and pasted:

…with a few individual bills applied randomly. Here’s a smaller scale of the tile pattern:

The tragedy in all this is that I forgot to send it into the image archives of the Spectator before leaving work last Friday. A free lance cartoon ran instead.

Comments

Because you (thankfully) did not depict Dalton’s gitch on the pool-deck, you have wisely left it ambiguous whether or not he is going “commando” under those cut-and-pasted images of cash. We, the taxpayers, would rather not know.

On the topic of “image recycling”, I look forward to a future cartoon where you depict Bashar Assad doing the backstroke. I hope that world events conspire to give you an excuse to do so, but I cannot currently imagine what they may be.  – Commuting Hamiltonian, Sept 3, 2006