Harper budget fumbles on job crisis

OTTAWA, March 4 /CNW Telbec/ - The Harper government's budget fails to measure up to its own job creation promises, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), a progressive think tank.

Instead of fixing the job crisis as it promised in yesterday's Throne Speech, the Harper government appears to be coasting on last year's stimulus budget, offering no meaningful new initiatives to get Canadians working again.

"The Harper government is pressing the wrong panic button, prematurely tackling the budgetary deficit before resolving Canada's job crisis," says Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan.

"The government claims it has fixed the Employment Insurance system but half of Canada's unemployed are still unable to claim benefits," Yalnizyan says. "Ignoring the 810,000 EI recipients who are poised to run out of benefits with no new job in sight is a disaster in the making."

CCPA Alternative Federal Budget Coordinator David Macdonald called this year's budget a "photocopy budget" - an almost total replay of last year's promises.

"Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are without full-time work yet the Harper government appears to be coasting on promises from last year's inadequate stimulus plans and a very rich corporate tax cut agenda," says Macdonald.

"At a time when Canadian households are struggling with their own debt issues - the Harper government is asking them to subsidize profit-making corporations with an average of $4 billion in annual tax cuts for the next three years."

For further information: Kerri-Anne Finn, CCPA Senior Communications Officer, at [phone] x306