Tuesday, March 19, 2019 ~ NATIONAL.
~ West Shore Voice News
Finance Minister Bill Morneau is expected to deliver the federal government’s 2019 budget today March 19, 2019. #YourBudget2019
Economic conditions are different than in 2018 when things still seemed cohesive for an economy moving forward. And things are much different than in 2016 and 2017 when the Trudeau Liberal government was rolling out a range of supports to the middle class and targeted economic sectors such as innovation and technology.
A slow-down or recession is already in discussion broadly in the economy. The Bank of Canada did not increase the benchmark interest rate this month as was originally suggested by the central bank. There is even some expectation that the interest rate could be lowered later this year or next year, if the economy does not bounce back soon.
Delivery of federal funds into infrastructure projects across the country have not been a highlight in the past four years, despite federal efforts. The necessity to partner financially with provincial and local governments on ‘shovel-ready’ projects has produced a slow-down in that process.
As announced on February 20, today Canadians will see the Trudeau government’s last full budget ahead of this year’s federal election in October. Despite some political shenanigans in the House of Commons over spin-offs from the SNC-Lavalin disarray, the budget will inevitably surface for a detail-hungry media all set to go to inform Canadians.
Many observers have listed four main areas that Canadians can expect to see addressed in the 2019 budget: housing, pharmacare, seniors and skills training.
For housing the main concern is rebalancing the opportunity for first-time homeowners after nearly killing off that market with last year’s mortgage ‘stress test’, even with most Canadians in debt beyond any reasonable means of recovery (about $1.78 owed for every dollar earned, on average).
For pharmacare the need is to underpin the treatment side of the health care system with some measure of stability.
For seniors, the stark realization is that people are living longer and must continue working in order to make ends meet and sustain any prospect of retirement. Some tax breaks or special options are expected there.
For skills and training there is potentially some sort of ‘lifelong account’ through the tax system that could help people transition through various phases of their career and shifts in the job market as technology makes sweeping changes in the workforce and economy. While employment numbers are high at the moment, it’s the quality of the jobs (in terms of income level and career-building stability) that is low overall including a lot of low-wage and part-time work without benefits which is considered to be precarious.