The budget was boring, but responsible
Editorial

Accepting the very reality that we could be having a federal election some time this year, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, presumably under the marching orders of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, could have taken two basic approaches to last week's budget.

He could have filled it with goodies for individuals like us, and hoped that people would remember them if and when they go to the polls in 2008. Or he could have come up with something bland, uninteresting, with few goodies for the average taxpayers, but numerous indications that Harper, Flaherty and company are good managers of the public purse, and hope that's what people remember if they have ballots to mark later this year.

Flaherty chose the second option, and while it meant for a rather boring budget that even the media had a hard time getting excited about (one had to do a bit of page turning in last Thursday's Toronto Sun before they saw any budget coverage), we have to call it responsible.

One doesn't get the impression from this budget that the government seeks to use the tax dollars we forked up to buy our votes with them. And while the concept of a responsible budget is certainly nothing new, it is still always refreshing to see.

And while we don't get the idea that there's an attempt to buy our votes, the budget did contain some goodies for the economic well-being of the country, although nothing overly extravagant.

One item that has been drawing a lot of attention is the plan that will allow Canadians, starting next year, to contribute up to $5,000 annually in tax-free savings accounts. Any income realized from such an account would be tax free, and unlike RRSPs, people will be able to withdraw money from these accounts as needed without penalty, and put it back again later.

Again, we suspect this is a little item that probably sounds a lot better than it will actually turn out to be (details are still lacking on how it's all going to work). For one thing, how many of us can scrape together $5,000 per year to take full advantage of this program? Apart from the very wealthy, not many. And the tax-free dollars realized from such investments are not going to amount to a whole lot either. One Liberal MP from this area estimated it might come to $50 per year, tops.

On the other hand, that $50 is better than nothing, and few of us would be inclined to refuse it. As well, there's nothing wrong with encouraging people to set a little bit aside for a proverbial rainy day.

Again, it's a little step, but a positive little step.

We're also pleased that there will be more work this year on paying down the national debt. It currently stands in excess of $450 billion, and that is a monster that has gobbled up billions of tax dollars in interest payments for years. That is money we have all been contributing, basically to no productive end. This year's budget proposes to knock $10.2 billion off of that monster, meaning the Harper Conservatives will have reduced the debt by some $37 billion since they took office.

There are some who might argue they are being too aggressive on that score. Others could wonder why it's taking so long to get that financial weight off the national back. And when it comes to the substantial interest payments that have to go to service the debt, we say the sooner it can be eliminated, the better.

Setting a federal budget for a country like Canada can be a daunting task, and also intimidating. Massive broad-based interests must be considered, while applying a certain amount of micromanagement to the government operation.

It's so easy to criticize what Flaherty and Harper have done with this budget. How many of you find it easy to set out a household budget? The vast majority of you probably find it a major chore, and a lot of you are foolish enough not to even bother with the exercise. Multiply that chore several million times, and you might obtain an idea of the scope involved.

We should also remember that some tough economic times might be ahead for us in the coming months. What we see in this budget is an attempt to brace against blows, which may or may not come.

Like we've stated throughout, if nothing else, this budget is responsible.