Fiscal Conservatism Comes To Canada

And it is about time.....too bad the other levels of government don't have the stomach to try and live within their means. Are you listening Toronto City Council?

EDITORIAL: What fiscal conservatism looks like

Imagine that. The Conservative government we elected in Ottawa eight months ago is starting to get, well, conservative.

We've been waiting for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his crew to show us they're significantly different from the Liberal gang they booted out of office in January.

They started strong by keeping most of their promises, including cutting the GST by one percentage point. But in their first budget, while they cut spending slightly from the previous year, it was still at near-record (and near-Liberal) levels.

That culture appears to have changed at last.

In one fell swoop Monday, a pair of Tory cabinet ministers announced $2 billion in budget cuts over two years and a $13.2-billion payment against the massive federal debt. The latter is thanks to a higher-than-expected surplus.

The Liberals routinely had those, too. But where the Grits used to hoard the money they overtaxed us in order to blow half of it on new spending (the other half would go to pay down debt), the Conservatives understand this money isn't theirs to use to buy votes.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty used the analogy of a homeowner paying down the mortgage to provide some financial wiggle room. Treasury Board President John Baird said the savings, spread over two years, will come through cuts to unnecessary programs, streamlining of services, and by coming in under budget in a number of areas. Bravo.

Baird's program cuts read like a litany of wasteful make-work schemes and boondoggles lifted from the pages of an auditor general's report (see Technology Partnerships Canada or the Court Challenges program).

The Harper government at least has managed to get it half right. It is being fiscally responsible and reining in spending. Here's hoping they follow through on the other half of the equation: Deep and meaningful reductions in income tax rates.

As CTF director John Williamson says: "The federal government should collect in taxes only what is needed to fund its spending priorities. Annual surpluses represent overtaxation by government and the money should go back to taxpayers in the form of lower income taxes."

We, and he, have been saying that for years. Finally someone's listening.