Priorities in the ‘alternative budget’

dru — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:33:21 +0000

Free college tuition, universal child care, reducing poverty, while greening the economy: Possibilities for Nova Scotia

HALIFAX- The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia releases its ‘alternative budget’ today entitled Responding to the Crisis, Building for the Future. The provincial budget needs to ensure that all Nova Scotians, particularly the most vulnerable, are adequately protected during the current downturn, and that more Nova Scotians benefit when the economy recovers. We need to strengthen public services that will insulate Nova Scotians from a changing climate and a changing economy.

Most concerning is the lack of democratic transparency and accountability that exists when the government is able to make significant decisions without facing a vote in the legislature. Since 2002, over a half a billion dollars has been allocated at year-end without any democratic debate. The Nova Scotia Alternative Budget working group has reiterated the folly of fiscal legislation, which ties the hands of government. Instead, decisions about deficits, debts, surpluses, should be debated in the legislature taking into consideration the fiscal and economic circumstances of the day. “Given current circumstances it wouldn’t be good economics to balance the budget and to institute a significant stimulus plan,” says NS Alternative Budget Working Group member,

Dalhousie Economist Mathieu Dufour. As he further points out: “the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio does not justify making debt payments at the expense of adequately funding health, education and other social services.”

CCPA

Priorities in the ‘alternative budget’