Tuesday’s budget has been accurately described by some pundits as a 500-page federal election campaign pamphlet.
In an election year, budgets are all about who gets the cookies and who gets the crumbs.
Not surprisingly, those who stand to benefit most are also those being targeted as potential Conservative voters in the upcoming campaign: soccer moms, seniors, immigrants, the military and those who’d like to “get tough” on assorted enemies.
Seniors, particularly better-off ones, are the clear winners here. They are most likely to use the increased limit in tax-free savings accounts and will benefit from new rules around RRIF withdrawals.
Seniors also both vote and vote for Conservatives in greater numbers than other demographics.
For suburban soccer parents, some big-ticket items were already announced in the fall. Income splitting, which primarily benefits one-earner two-parent households, is included in that category. Increased child benefits and child-care deductions are also a nod to middle-class parents — another sweet spot identified by the Tory election machine.
On the tough-guy front, a favourite of Stephen Harper’s, there’s money for new military missions in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, as well as CSIS and the RCMP.
Admittedly, the budget is balanced only through using up of a big chunk of contingency funding.
And some of the money, like the cash for mass transit funding, won’t start flowing for a couple of years.
But never mind that.
In an election year, promises are as good as money in the bank for a government intent on wooing voters.
We’ll see how it pays off come October.
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