2006 Federal Budget: Rethinking Fiscal Priorities

The 2006 federal budget was the first for a new Conservative minority government led by a prime minister from the west. As a platform for implementing distinctive election promises, the 2006 budget offered ample opportunity for rethinking fiscal priorities in Canada, such as cutting the GST, addressing fiscal imbalance with the provinces, and finding a different approach to childcare and child benefits.

The papers in this volume examine the political and economic context informing the 2006 budget as well as lessons from recent U.S. tax policy debates and a quantitative evaluation of the impact of the overall budget package on the Canadian economy. Special attention is devoted to alternative federal tax structures, fiscal imbalance, and the recent federal Blue Ribbon report. Contributors also look at the new federal policy on childcare and child benefits, how the budget relates to productivity and competitiveness, and general sustainability of the new fiscal plan.

Contributors include Richard Bird (Toronto), Robin Boadway (Queen's), Paul Boothe (Alberta), Andrew Coyne (The National Post), Don Drummond (TD Bank Financial Group), Peter Dungan (Toronto), Fred Gorbet (York), Richard Harris (Simon Fraser), Kevin Milligan (British Columbia), Jack Mintz (Toronto), Steve Murphy (Toronto), Alain Noel (Montreal), Bill Robson (C.D. Howe Institute), Andrew Sharpe (Centre for the Study of Living Standards), Joel Slemrod (Michigan), Michael Smart (Toronto), Gregor Smith (Queen's), and Tom Wilson (Toronto).