March 21, 2013
Earlier today the C.D. Howe Institute published a new “shadow budget” entitled “Prudence and Opportunity: A Shadow Federal Budget for 2013” to coincide with the release of the new Federal budget.
From the C.D. Howe Institute:
“The C.D. Howe Institute’s 2013 Shadow Budget, released today, protects Canada from near-term economic and fiscal risks by accelerating the federal government’s planned return to budget surpluses, and promoting reforms that will boost longer-term economic growth. In “Prudence and Opportunity: A Shadow Federal Budget for 2013,” authors Alexandre Laurin and William Robson show how Ottawa can achieve budget surplus by 2014/15, a year ahead of plan, through further belt-tightening in the government’s own operations, while reshaping federal finances to support work, saving, investment, and international trade.
A key focus of the Shadow Budget is further control of Ottawa’s operating costs. It proposes to reduce the number of federal employees from planned levels, and limit mounting compensation costs per employee by containing taxpayers’ contributions to pension and other under-funded post-retirement benefits. It would also trim net subsidies to Crown corporations and “tax expenditures” – programs delivered through the tax system.”
The C.D. Howe Institute’s new shadow budget caught my eye as it includes recommendations for “a global strategy for lower across-the-board tariffs on imports” to benefit Canadian consumers and make Canadian businesses more competitive.
Some of the specific trade initiatives the C.D. Howe Institute recommends to increase competition in Canada (and benefit consumers) include: reducing the discrepancy in import tariffs on consumer goods between Canada and the United States (which the authors argue means that Canadians pay more for a wide range of consumer goods); reviewing and increasing the number of Canadian tariff lines subject to zero Most-Favored National (MFN) tariffs; and generally lowering customs duties that have “sheltered some producers [in Canada] from competition, enabling them to charge Canadians significantly higher prices”.
For a copy of the C.D. Howe’s shadow budget see: Prudence and Opportunity: A Shadow Federal Budget for 2013.
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