愛污传媒

The cost of running the government is going down, according to the Treasury Board's latest estimates for funding Canada's national departments and agencies in 2011-12.

Last year, net expenditures were estimated at more than $260 billion. But this year, Parliament will be asked to approve significantly less.

The 2011-12 Main Estimates, "are more than $10 billion lower than the Main Estimates for last year with a total of $250.8 billion in expenditures for transfer payments, operating and capital costs, as well as public debt charges," read a statement obtained by 愛污传媒 ahead of the document's release.

The end of stimulus measures and the lack of major new spending initiatives are cited as factors. Treasury Board Secretary Stockwell Day said a government freeze on all departmental spending over the next three years will lead to $720 million in savings this year. He also said that a directive requiring all agencies, boards and departments to find five per cent in savings over the last three years resulted in another $1.3 billion reduction in spending.

Day said spending cuts will not be achieved by hacking and slashing social programs such as health care, despite government pledges to get back to a balanced budget by 2015.

"We're going to hit a balanced budget without slashing those programs," Day told CTV's Power Play. "We're taking care of and restraining our own spending."

The publication of the Main Estimates, otherwise known as the Blue Book, is one stage in the long process of allocating federal funding each year.

In the first phase, the Government Expenditure Plan paints the broad strokes. Then, the Main Estimates specify the amounts to be included in subsequent appropriation bills presented to Parliament. Any subsequent spending decisions are included in Supplementary Estimates before the detailed final Reports on Plans and Priorities are submitted for parliamentary approval.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has estimated that the 2011-12 deficit would shrink to about $30 billion as stimulus spending is wound down, beating earlier projections it would amount to more than $45 billion.

By comparison, the government's deficit was $55.6 billion in 2010-11.

The ministry of finance says government stimulus programs are responsible for almost half the $27.4 billion deficit so far this year. Flaherty is expected to hand down his next budget on March 22.

Opposition MPs criticized the government's announcement Tuesday, saying there is still no clear plan for reducing the deficit.

"We know there's got to be a plan, there's got to be a reduction plan," NDP MP Pat Martin told CTV's Power Play.

"You're not going to nickel and dime you're way out of a $40 billion deficit."

Liberal MP Siobhan Coady cast doubt on whether the government would be able to keep spending down, accusing the Conservatives of spending $10.5 billion more than forecast in last year's Main Estimates.

She said Tuesday's Main Estimates document contains about $1 billion in cuts to social programs, while spending is going up to support the government's law and order agenda.

Day said drops in spending on cultural programs reflect less spending on areas such as parks, which are included in the culture budget, due to some projects being taken care of with funds from the Economic Action Plan. But he pointed out that more money will be diverted to research and development on alternative energies.

With files from CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife