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Layton wants oil subsidies cut in budget

[PoliticsWatch Posted 5:15 p.m. April 26, 2006]

OTTAWA  —  NDP Leader Jack Layton said Wednesday his party will not support the Conservative government's budget if it does not include a number of measures, including cutting back on subsidies to oil and gas companies.  
  
"If we don't see long-term funding of child care, if we don't see investment in post-secondary education, fixing up (Employment Insurance) and cutting back on this incredible subsidy to the most profitable oil and gas companies, we can't support the budget," Layton told reporters after question period.

The NDP estimates the federal government spends $1.5 billion a year on subsidies to oil and gas companies.

Layton said he wants money currently used on subsidies to oil and gas companies reallocated into renewable energy and achieving Kyoto goals. He said it was unfair that taxpayers were giving money to oil companies while the companies recorded record profits and consumers were paying record high prices.

The minority Conservative government will introduce its first budget on Tuesday, May 2. 

The Conservatives need the support of at least one of the three opposition parties to get a budget through the House and avoid the defeat of the government. 

Although no party wants to go to the polls just three months after the last federal election, both the Liberals and the NDP are now making demands regarding what they want to see in the budget. 

Liberal MP John McCallum hinted this week that his party could vote against the budget if it reverses a one-per-cent income tax reduction introduced by the Liberal government days before the government fell in November. 

Layton's challenge on oil and gas subsidies comes a day after U.S. President George W. Bush asked Congress to remove a minor tax break for oil companies, worth $2 billion over 10 years.

Layton raised the issue of oil and gas subsidies with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in question period on Wednesday. 

"Is he going to follow the same old Liberal practice of giving massive subsidies to the oil and gas sectors, the most polluting and the most profitable, or is he going to do what Canadians want and what George Bush is now calling for, and direct those funds to energy conservation, to efficiency and renewable energy?"

The PM quipped about Layton's support of a Bush policy, saying, "I do not know what to think of the NDP being in league with George Bush."

Harper was non-committal but said the government's budget would not include new subsidies for oil companies. 

The Conservative government has reached out to the opposition parties, as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has held pre-budget meetings with the opposition finance critics. 

The budget is expected to include the Conservative $1,200 child care check  to parents with children under six and a one-per-cent GST cut. 

Flaherty also revealed Wednesday he plans to keep a Conservative commitment to rein in government spending growth. 

He denied the spending cuts would be painful. 

"Pain's a relative term," he said.

"When I look at a spending increase of almost 15 per cent, I think most Canadians would look at that and say, 'It would be a thrill if we could do that in our household.' But it's not maintainable and sustainable over time."

: Related Links

> Flaherty to table budget May 2

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