And there’s nothing in the current Conservative government’s track record to suggest it is capable of keeping a lid on spending increases. The same approach failed in the 1980s and early 1990s, when successive federal governments attempted to balance the budget by trying to slow the growth in spending while hoping for higher revenue. There are good reasons why Canadians should doubt this plan. To get there, the government pinned its hopes on revenue growing at a robust average rate of 5.6% over the next five years, while holding program spending increases to an average rate of 1.6%.
In the March budget, the Conservatives proposed balancing the budget in five years (by 2015-16). The newly minted Conservative majority should seize the opportunity to put forth a truly conservative plan to balance the budget - one that puts federal departmental spending on the chopping block. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.