OTTAWA 鈥� The Harper government鈥檚 latest budget is chock full of items that don鈥檛 cost a penny but sure sound like a million bucks.
The no-cost list includes publicizing employment insurance benefits for apprentices, launching a 鈥淢ade-in-sa国际传媒鈥� branding campaign, spurring trade between the provinces, cracking down on money laundering and terrorist financing, asserting sa国际传媒鈥檚 claim to the North Pole and stripping away red tape from the beer industry.
There are also promises to spend an unspecified amount of money to help northerners eat healthier, cap wireless roaming rates and tell Canadians about the potential perils of payday loans.
Some of these promises only require tweaks to existing laws. Others can be done on the cheap. That鈥檚 just the right price for a Conservative government that is desperate to balance the budget before next year鈥檚 federal election and is trying to squeeze every bit of cash into paying down the deficit.
A budget surplus next year would let the Tories campaign on any number of spending promises aimed at winning votes in the next election.
One expert says Canadians shouldn鈥檛 be surprised that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty鈥檚 budget is full of freebies.
鈥淩ecently, our federal budget documents 鈥� and to some extent the provincial budgets as well 鈥� have been policy documents,鈥� said Scotiabank economist Mary Webb.
鈥淪o this is a chance to provide initiatives across a broad range of areas, sectors across sa国际传媒 to reset growth, per se, going forward. And it allows the federal government to catch up on issues that, in some cases, have been in the public realm for years.鈥�
One of those issues is inter-provincial trade.
British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan have an agreement to ease the flow of goods and services across their borders, and Ottawa wants the rest of the provinces to follow suit.
The budget says Industry Minister James Moore has challenged the provinces and territories to each come up with three ways to boost trade between themselves. The federal government is also going to come up with a list of measures that limit inter-provincial trade.
No dollar figure is assigned to any of those budget items.
While trade is an economic issue, some of the no-cost items appear to stray into feel-good territory.
For example, Canadians will be encouraged to mark several historic milestones that led to the birth of the country. The Conservatives say the money will come from existing programs.
Historic military titles and ranks will be restored and signed into law. That鈥檚 a no-cost promise that follows the Harper government鈥檚 earlier moves to restore the prefix 鈥渞oyal鈥� to the names of the navy and air force.
Even beer makers are getting a free budget bauble.
The Conservatives are loosening composition standards so brewers who experiment with ingredients can still call their product beer. The budget offers the example of Rickard鈥檚, which had to delay the release of a lager spiced with nutmeg because there was a question of whether it could still be considered a beer.
If you鈥檙e wondering why history, the military and craft beer are in the budget, Webb has an explanation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really setting policy,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he policy backbone is supposed to be the fiscal estimates, the financial estimates ... but there is a lot of general policy thrown in.鈥�
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A look at some of the no-cost items in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty鈥檚 budget:
鈥� Increased awareness of employment insurance benefits for apprentices;
鈥� A review of the Youth Employment Strategy to better align it with the job market;
鈥� Initiatives to reduce regulatory burdens for businesses;
鈥� Changes to sa国际传媒鈥檚 intellectual property framework;
鈥� A 鈥淢ade-in-sa国际传媒鈥� branding campaign;
鈥� Reducing barriers to trade between the provinces and territories;
鈥� Initiatives to crack down on money laundering and terrorist financing;
鈥� Responding to recommendations made by a panel on tanker safety;
鈥� Asserting sa国际传媒鈥檚 sovereignty over the North Pole; and,
鈥� Responding to a report by Doug Eyford, the government-appointed envoy for West Coast energy infrastructure.
