Budget Review

Well, on balance, I have to say that the first Tory budget looks pretty good.

Consider the following positives:

- For every $1 of new spending, $2 in tax cuts;
- More tax relief than the last four budgets combined;
- Overall reduction of taxes to be paid by business large and small; and
- Over $2.5 billion for public security.

In the middle:

- Annual debt reduction of $3 billion, which is not very different from Liberal budgets past.

And now, for the negatives:

- Over $1 billion in funding for various Aboriginal causes, which will have the corrosive effect of keeping them even more dependent on government; and
- a total of $1 billion in each of the next two years to subsidize unproductive and unprofitable farmers.

I'd like to have seen deeper tax cuts and more attention paid to debt reduction, but the real story here (and what I expect the Liberals and NDP to focus on) is that there is no new money for health care. In the absence of a permanent Leader of the Opposition, I don't see them using this budget to trigger an election, but it's not going to be a walk in the park.

Given that they're governing with a minority, I'd have to give this budget a grade of B, all in all.