Canada’s federal budget, presented March 22, 2011, will not be supported by any of the 3 federal opposition parties, and therefore the minority Conservative government will not have the votes they need to pass the budget in the House of Commons. The stage is now set for Canadians to go to an election. The final vote will be Friday March 25.
The budget will now become an election issue. The 352 page document describes no new taxes, and a total of $2.3B in new spending. The budget proposes a $40.5B deficit, $9B less than projected, with the goal of a balanced budget in 4 years.
Innovation was supported in this budget with significant new investments for media and brain research ($100M each). The tri-councils and Genome Canada were given some new funding, and new investments were made to support commercial innovation.
Prepared by: Robert Merson
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