On December 21st, 2009 Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced $54 billion in transfer payments to provinces and territories for 2010-11, an increase of $2.4 billion over last year.
Our Conservative Government made and honoured a commitment to restore fiscal balance to the provinces and territories to ensure they have the ability to provide health care, education and other essential social services that are important to Canadian families. We will provide record high support ($54-billion) to provinces and territories next year.
Since we took office, support payments to the provinces for vital health, education and social services have increased by 30% or $12.7 billion. We’ve rejected the shameful example of the previous Liberal government that massively slashed and gutted provincial and territorial transfers causing lasting damage felt to this day.
While we’ve restored fiscal balance through long-term, fair, and stable transfer support, the Liberal Party denied the very existence of a fiscal imbalance. John McCallum, Ignatieff’s Finance Critic, actually stood in the House of Commons and voted against recognizing the fiscal imbalance. We recognize that maintaining support for provinces is particularly important as we exit the global recession.
That is why our Conservative Government is providing extraordinary one time transfer protection to ensure that all provinces & territories receive at least as much support this year as they did last year. This special, one-time protection is an extension of Canada’s Economic Action Plan and will ensure provinces and territories help secure Canada’s economic recovery, and that the damage caused by Liberal slashing is never again felt by Canadian families
