Harper government to spend $6.5-million to promote tax-cutting record.avi

Meanwhile, the greater economic value of the very tax cuts that are featured in the ads -- which the government describes as tax expenditures -- is being questioned in a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.

In a 2011 "shadow budget" released Thursday, the institute notes the number of these credits has increased to over 260 from about 227 in 1999, complicating the tax code and raising compliance costs. Trimming them back could add $2-billion a year to Ottawa's bottom line, the report states.

"Politically, it's hard to do," acknowledged the institute's president, Bill Robson. To get around that, Mr. Robson suggests the government strike an expert independent panel to go through the various tax credits to find out which ones work and which ones could be scrapped.

A spokesman for the Canada Revenue Agency said the purpose of the ads is to ensure Canadians are taking full advantage of all available tax measures.

After a week of budget demands from the three opposition parties, Thursday saw several business groups put forward their very different suggestions as to what Finance Minister Jim Flaherty should deliver next month. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the C.D. Howe Institute and PwC -- the new name for PriceWaterhouseCoopers -- all released reports Thursday that support the government's plans to continue cutting corporate taxes, among other proposals.

In a meeting with Mr. Flaherty Thursday, the CFIB says it urged the minister to soften planned hikes in "payroll taxes" through breaks on EI premiums for businesses that hire new workers.

Just four months ago, the minister managed to quiet a growing controversy over higher Employment Insurance premiums when he announced that EI premiums would not rise by the planned maximum of 15 cents per $100 of insurable earnings over the coming years.

But the compromise -- scaling back the annual rise to five cents this year, 10 cents in the years to come -- is still a hike the CFIB says hurts hiring.

The CFIB also strongly urged the minister to reject calls from the Liberals and New Democrats for an expanded Canada Pension Plan, which the small-business group says would also lead to more payroll taxes.

The opposition Liberals are supporting breaks on EI payroll taxes, partly to challenge Conservative accusations that they are the party of high taxes.

The C.D. Howe Institute urges Ottawa to balance the books a year earlier than its 2015 target, or risk big debt headaches down the road.

The report notes that with wild fluctuations in bond markets around the world and the likelihood that interest rates will soon rise, the safe bet for Canada is to start lowering its debt load as soon as possible. It warns that an interest rate rise of one percentage point above the government's baseline fiscal projections in 2012 would add more than $10-billion to the federal debt by 2015.

"The sooner Ottawa stops borrowing and starts repaying, the better Canadians will weather bad news on that front," it states.

According to Finance Canada, the federal debt will grow from $519.1-billion in 2009-10 to $626.1-billion in 2015-16. As a percentage of Canada's Gross Domestic Product, the debt is expected to peak at 35.3 per cent in 2011-12 before dropping to 30.8 per cent in 2015-16.

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[narukofan2]

Stephen Harper is a traitor against Canada and he must be impeached, charged and jailed for his crimes of treason against the Canadian people.

Also Stephen Harper deserves to stick a cactus with rusty barbed wire and dull and rusty razor blades attached and shove it up his ass.