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Page 4 - The Northern VIEW - Wednesday, April 4, 2012
◆ FEDERAL FINANCES
Tories release 2012 budget, Cullen points out flaws there are five major themes of the plan, including ensuring long-term sustainability of social programs, Yesterday the Conservative supporting entrepreneurship and Party released their Economic innovation, responsible and timely Action Plan, a $276 billion federal resource development, investing budget that saw $5.2 billion in in training and infrastructure spending cuts. and supporting families and “In this budget, our Government communities. is looking ahead not only over the However Skeena-Bulkey next few years but also over the Valley MP Nathan Cullen has next generation,” said Finance many issues with the 2012 budget, Minister Jim Flaherty. perhaps the biggest issue being “The reforms we present today that environmental reviews of are substantial, responsible and major oil, gas and mining projects necessary. They will ensure that will be shortened, something the all across government we are Tories say will ensure ventures get focused on enabling and sustaining off the ground sooner to promote Canada’s long-term economic economic development. growth.” “The idea that you can short The Conservative Party says that cut these things and just start rubber stamping everything and SCHEDULED FLIGHTS • CHARTERS • TOURS that it won’t cost you in the end is insanity. It’s not the real world. There’s a reason we built all of these systems. Could they be improved? Absolutely. But to FLIGHT SCHEDULE: SPRING 2012 (EFFECTIVE MARCH - MAY) cancel the federal FLT# DEPART ARRIVE FREQUENCY g o v e r n m e n t ’s
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role is not good and would support for business,” said developments Cullen. that bring jobs Cullen says the and prosperity to Tory government Canadians.” is doing this out One of the of desperation to most controversial get the proposed changes made Enbridge Northern in the budget is Gateway Project that starting in underway. 2023 the age of “Changing the eligibility for Old rules of the game that Age Security will they’ve been trying change from 65 MP Nathan Cullen to 67. The change to undermine since day one and corrupt will not affect them even further… Canadians under I’ve never heard of a government the age of 54. anywhere doing this. You can’t get “They’re going to move the this many months in a process, and retirement age up a couple of engage this many stakeholders, years and try to placate Canadians then half way through say they’re by saying it won’t effect the ones entirely willing to change the next in line, just the people right process in the company’s favor. I after that. Well, the pension system guess they’re just that desperate,” is built by people many years he commented. before they actually retire and Enbridge was unsurprisingly it’s for people by people. I don’t pleased with the announcement, understand why the government stating via email, “Enbridge is thinks this is a good idea,” said supportive of measures in the Cullen. federal budget that advocate the Also, around 19,200 public concept of ‘one project, one review’ service jobs will be cut over the completed in a clearly defined next three years (about 4.8 per time period. It makes great sense cent of the current work force).
Cullen mentioned that he would be amazed if public service jobs weren’t cut in the north. In the Federal Budget, the Tories will be providing $275 million over three years to support First Nations education and to build and renovate schools on reserves. Although this is seemingly a good idea, Cullen referred to the situation as a shell game, claiming that “money is being taken out from one pot and put into another”. “[The NDP] thought there should be new additional money, however this is not the case. The amount is far less than what the First Nations have been asking for, so on two fronts it’s disappointing,” commented Cullen. In the last budget there was a special taxation rate in place for mining and exploration. Under the 2012 budget, the government is going to kill that advantage, particularly on the exploration things. Cullen says that this deeply worrisome, as it’s been a successful program for the north, and across the country. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will have to deal with $115 million in cuts (10 per cent of funding). What this means to rural communities in the north are still unknown. “A great concern is that a big chunk of that money is going to come off of rural radio. As people know, CBC Get the training and support you need to find and keep a job in B.C. is a great connector Job search resources • Personal employment planning • Workshops and training • Specialized services across the northwest, across north and rural Canada in general,” said Cullen. The budget also saw nearly $80 million cut for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. “We’re going to have to see some dust settle first before we understand what the impacts are going to be for our region,” said Cullen. The federal government will be providing $5.2 billion over the next eleven years to “renew the Canadian Coast Guard”, however Cullen says these funds will be for new boats only. Additionally, the federal government will also be getting rid of the penny in the EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CENTRES fall. Production of the coin costs about 1.6 Locations across B.C. Visit one near you. WorkBCCentres.ca 1.800.663.7867 TDD: 1.800.661.8773 cents to create, so by eliminating the penny the government will save approximately $11 The Employment Program of British Columbia is funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. million a year.
“They’re going to move the retirement age up a couple of years... I don’t understand why the government thinks this is a good idea.”
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