March 30, 2013 - No. 12
CPC(M-L)'s 43rd Anniversary
• CPC(M-L)'s
43rd Anniversary
Looking at Federal Government Budget for 2013 - K.C. Adams
• Part One: Ideo-Political Considerations of
the Federal Budget
• Part Two: Mystery of State -- The Hoax of
Balancing the Budget
• Your Tax Dollar: 2011-2012 Fiscal
Year - Department of Finance
• Summary of 2012 Budget - Department
of Finance
CPC(M-L)'s 43rd Anniversary
March 31 marks the 43rd anniversary of the
founding of the Communist
Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). On this occasion, the Central
Committee
sends revolutionary greetings to all its members and supporters across
the
country and best wishes for the success of their work. The Party's 43rd
anniversary is an excellent occasion to reflect on the work done to
implement
the resolutions of the Party's 8th Congress held in August 2008 and to
participate in setting the agenda for the upcoming 9th Congress.
One year ago during CPC(M-L)'s 42nd anniversary
celebration, the Party
addressed the necessity to reassert the authority of communism and
bring that
authority into harmony with the modern conditions. Modern communism and
CPC(M-L) fight for the new by putting the renewal of thought and action
at
the centre of their concerns. This means the enrichment of theory, the
strengthening of the Party's organizations and the creation of new
organizational forms of the working class for its defence, politics and
democracy.
"Through actions with analysis, the building
of groups
of writers and
disseminators, leading the class struggle on all fronts within the
constantly
changing conditions, Party comrades through their own efforts are
deepening
and broadening revolutionary theory and contributing to Contemporary
Marxist-Leninist Thought. By tackling the world as it presents itself
and
analyzing the concrete conditions where Party members and supporters
are
involved in revolutionary work, the Party and all its organisms can
respond
effectively to the call of history and move the world forward to a
break with
the obsolete authority that is in contradiction with the conditions
both in their
own particular work and in society generally," CPC (M-L) pointed out.
"The Party upholds Lenin's thesis that without
revolutionary theory there
can be no revolutionary movement, which always emphasizes that without
revolutionary practice revolutionary theory withers and dies as dogma.
For
communists, theory is the Goddess of Light that illuminates the path
forward
but first we must be on the revolutionary path and fighting to advance
the
class struggle. As we fight and advance our revolutionary practice,
theory must
advance as well to deal effectively with the conditions that constantly
change
objectively and subjectively through our own efforts in organizing and
waging
the class struggle.
"The world never slows down
in its constant change,
development and
motion and neither should our brains in dealing with the call of
history," the
statement of the Central Committee pointed out. "Not a day goes by
without
another infamy against the working class including attacks even on the
dignity
of teachers, scientists, other professionals and public service
workers, wrecking
of manufacturing and austerity budgets that deprive the people of the
social
programs and public services they need to live in dignity and health,"
the Party
wrote.
Concluding its analysis of the current conditions the
Party said, "This is
not an occasion to mourn the present situation and express frustration
and
desperation. It is an occasion to test our mettle as communists and
workers.
The contradictions within state monopoly capitalism are so intense the
ruling
oligarchy to save itself, its crisis-ridden system and its life of
wealth and class
privilege is attacking everyone except a small minority that holds
economic
and political power and influence. Using the power of the state and the
immense wealth at their disposal, monopolies and their private
interests are
assaulting the vast majority of the people and their basic interests.
They are
politicizing their private interests and depoliticizing public
interests creating a
state of anarchy and violence worldwide. This exposes the weakness of
state
monopoly capitalism and those who hold great wealth and class privilege
and
their paid flunkies; they have no objective allies in any other sector
of the
population making them and their state extremely isolated and
vulnerable in
the face of a people determined to defend their rights and the general
interests
of society."
One year later, we
increasingly see how the state of
complete anarchy and
violence the ruling elites have imposed leads them to attack not only
the
people and society itself but even one another and the state authority
itself.
Scandal has become the expression of the crisis in which they are mired
along
with empty calls for renewal. Their schemes for renewal are so totally
devoid
of substance their only fate is to become increasingly desperate and
crazy such
as in the Harper/Flaherty recent federal budget where they rename the
bail-outs
of the monopolies as "bail-ins." Taking a cue from the European Union's
devastation of Greece and Cyprus, a bail-in regarding the big banks
transforms
deposits or savings into "investments" and savers or depositors to
"investors"
so that the people's savings for their retirement or other purposes can
be
legally stolen and replaced during a crisis with worthless bank stock
equity.
The Central Committee of
the Party this March analyzed
developments of
the concrete conditions at its 10th plenum held on an enlarged basis.
To find
one's bearings within the state of anarchy and violence that exists
worldwide,
the Plenum of the Central Committee underlines the necessity to put
emphasis
on the need for modern communism as enlightenment theory. It
presupposes
opposition to irrationalism, which is a system of belief or action that
disregards
or contradicts rational principles.
Today, irrationalism exists as a system of thought to
oppose the demands
of the working class for building new relations of production.
Irrationalism
exists in the form of a device that puts limitations on thought and
action to
impede the activation of the human factor/social consciousness so that
the
working class does not take its place at centre-stage of the historic
necessity
for change.
Irrationalism in the present
conditions presupposes a
"free man" outside the
realm of necessity, outside of time and space, outside of history. Such
a person
is necessarily a disconnected, disempowered, ineffective, apolitical
creature
who can at most lament his or her condition and blame others for the
state of
world affairs. The anti-human factor/ anti-consciousness unleashed by
the
irrationalism that has gripped the entire society leads to a state of
hopelessness,
helplessness and humiliation due to its inability to grasp what is
required of
us at any time. In opposition, the thesis -- understanding
requires
the
conscious participation of the individual in an act of finding out
--
accepts no limitations on thought and action, which cannot be left to
chance.
In this context, the plenum of the Central Committee
reviewed the decision
of the 8th Congress to strengthen the work of building the party
itself. The
Plenum made a positive appraisal of the Party's work to solve some of
the
problems the 8th Congress took up for solution but others require
immediate
attention. For instance, the Party plays a great deal of attention to
ensure the
working class can play its role as the leader of society and is not a
politically
impotent force. To achieve this aim, the organizations of the Party pay
first
rate attention to discerning where the main political emphasis should
be put at
any time so that the Party's education and organizing work are
effective.
The accuracy of the Party's appraisal of the political
situation along with
the adoption of suitable tactical slogans are key to success at any
time. But to
achieve both accuracy and suitable slogans, it is necessary to pay
attention to
the Party's inner party life, to the building of the Party itself. As
is well-known: without organization, there can be no effective
resistance; without
building the party organization where political leaders are trained, no
work can
become effective.
A strong communist basic organization, which is the
instrument of
leadership, empowerment and revolutionary action at its level, sets the
agenda
of work at its level consistent with the requirements of the day and
checks up
on its implementation. This is the decisive factor without which the
success of
any work is hit and miss. Without a basic organization setting the
agenda of
work and summing it up, the Party work becomes an exercise of
anarchistic
spontaneous interventions that are merely reactive and fraught with
misadventure.
Without Party organising, actions are based on the
irrational pragmatic
belief that nothing succeeds like success and tactics are a process,
popping up
as one goes along. The March Plenum thus set the main work for the
coming
six-month period to pay attention to the quality of members by paying
attention to the quality of the basic organizations. To be in good
standing, a
member must make sure her or his basic organization is in good
standing. This
means the basic organization must make sure that everyone can
participate in
setting an agenda of work and take the decisions that affect their
lives and the
revolutionary movement. Only then can members create the conditions
they
require to implement their own decisions and thus uphold their
responsibility
to ensure that the decisions are carried out and summed up. This
smashes the
meaningless repetition of phrases, which is a habit imposed by the
ruling elites
to render life in a most irrational manner.
In conclusion, the Enlarged Plenum of the Party's
Central Committee took
all necessary measures so that the resolution of the 8th Congress on
Party-Building is given priority in the coming period. With the
celebration
on March
13 of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Party's precursor
organization The Internationalists, the Party began an
extensive
review of all measures taken to consolidate inner-party life since the
Party's
founding in 1970 in general and 1985 in particular.
In 1985, the Party assessed that no force could continue
to act in the old
way and must begin the work of renewal. The aim of the review of the
work
to consolidate inner-party life is to educate the Party organizations
at all levels.
The review will be carried out as an extensive assessment of the
Party's
liabilities and assets to expose the defects in the work and turn
liabilities into
assets. The review should provide a guide to action to ensure the party
organizations at all levels are constitutionally sound revolutionary
instruments
of the Party and the working class.
The Party will use the 43rd anniversary of its founding
on March 31, the
upcoming 45th anniversary of the reorganization of The
Internationalists as a Marxist-Leninist youth and student
organization in
Montreal on May 7, 1968 and other occasions to carry out this review.
At all times, the problems of organization must be
rendered ideologically
and politically based on the Party's thinking and outlook. The Party's
thinking
and outlook exist in opposition to the bourgeois style of making
behaviour,
toeing the line and its opposite, refusing to toe the line, the issue.
The
bourgeois approach is based on the irrational anti-communist conception
of the
"free man" outside the realm of necessity, outside of time and space,
outside
of history. The Party opposes such nihilist conceptions. The Party
plants its
flag firmly on the terrain of the new and sets its course with
confidence to
provide the problems of building the new with solutions.
Let us celebrate the 43rd anniversary of the Party's
founding by paying
attention to the Party's inner-Party life!
Occupy
the
Space
for
Change!
Expand the Space for
Communism!
Long
Live
CPC
(M-L)!
Red Salute to the Work of Our Founder
and Leader Hardial Bains!
Looking at Federal Government Budget for 2013
- K.C. Adams -
Part One
Ideo-Political Considerations of the Federal Budget
Canadians are understandably concerned with the
prospects for the country.
At this stage in history, people are blocked from setting the aim,
agenda and
direction of the economy. The ruling elite expect the people to accept
the
dictate of the monopolies and the government for those features of
modern
democratic life that should belong to the people by virtue of being
members
of the polity.
A budget is an accounting tool of the economy. The
expenditures and
revenue of a nation, institution, collective or individual exist within
a
dialectical relationship. The ideo-political considerations of a budget
both
expenditures and revenue are set by those who control the nation,
institution,
collective or individual. The ideo-political considerations are the
bedrock on
which the aim of the nation, institution, collective or individual is
fashioned
and the expenditures and subsequent necessary revenue determined within
the
budget.
Modern Definition
A modern definition of a budget
considers expenditures the leading aspect of the relationship with
revenue that
is always in change, development and motion. Balance between
expenditures
and revenue is only coincidental and fleeting within the struggle for
production, scientific experimentation and class struggle. Expenditures
are
determined as those that meet the needs of the people, the reproduction
of the
socialized economy and the general interests of the society. The human
factor/social consciousness and maximum political mobilization unleash
the
initiative of the members of a nation, institution or collective and
from work
generate the revenue to meet the demands of the expenditures.
Depriving the People of Their Rights and Claims
on the Economy
and Society
The Harper Conservatives
have declared themselves in
word and deed a neo-liberal political government driven by a
dominionist
evangelical ideology. Fashioned from their ideo-political
considerations, the
aim of the Harper government is to turn over the entire human and
natural
resources of Canada to the private interests of the most powerful
global
monopolies.
The rights and claims of Canadians are in contradiction
with the might and
claims of the global monopolies. The Harperites seek to achieve their
aim by
depriving the people of their rights and claims on the economy and
society,
and to guarantee monopoly right and the claims of the monopolies within
every pore of the economy and society.
The direction of the economy and its many problems and
internal
contradictions are established and maintained objectively through the
development of capitalism and its state resulting today in the
monopolies'
ironclad private control of the main enterprises of the economy and
state
institutions such as the government. An important aspect of depriving
the
people of their rights and claims on society is to block them from
having any
control over the direction of the economy.
Ideological Control of the Economy and Society
The
monopolies and their political representatives maintain ideological
control of
the economy by denying that the modern economy is a social relation of
owners of monopoly capital and the actual producers of whom the largest
and
most important social class is the proletariat or working class. Deeply
held
prejudices interfere in the direct and immediate analysis of the
relations among
humans and with nature. Those prejudices, which arise from the
ideo-political
superstructure of monopoly capitalism, create a situation where the
people find
it difficult to analyze unfolding events and draw warranted conclusions
about
their significance. They fail to cognize the human relations in
society, in
particular the economy and its social relation between owners of
monopoly
capital and the actual producers. Instead of seeing life as it is,
people are led
to see what they think is there or merely repeat what they are told is
there.
This subverts the conscious participation of the people led by the
working
class in acts to analyze the economy and develop their own
ideo-political
considerations with their own independent thinking, aim, agenda and
direction
for the economy.
A budget developed by a people who activate the human
factor/social
consciousness, who reject false interpretations which perpetrate the
anti-human
factor/anti-social consciousness, reflects their own ideo-political
considerations
established by themselves and in their service, not those of the ruling
elite. The
people directly analyze the socialized economy and determine its needs
for
reproduction and those of the people to guarantee their rights and
well-being.
Also, the analysis of any budget coming from the ruling
elite shows how
it serves the ideo-political considerations of the monopoly
capitalists. When the
human factor/social consciousness is activated, people are able to see
through
the deception and go to the heart of the matter that the measures which
serve
the owners of the most powerful global monopolies are merely forms of
committing theft. They are not meant to solve the problems of the
economy
in a manner that resolves its internal contradictions, serves the
actual producers
and guarantees the rights of the people and their claims on society.
Acts of Conscious Participation
The people must organize
to deprive the ruling elite, their institutions and outlook of the
power to
deprive them from developing their own independent ideo-political
considerations of the economy. This requires acts of conscious
participation in
acts of analyzing and finding out the contradictions and problems of
the
economy. This begins by depriving the ruling elite of the power to
deprive our
brains of the power to think and cognize, which requires conscious
rejection
of deeply held prejudices that interfere in the direct and immediate
analysis of
the economy's social relations.
Part Two
Mystery of State -- The Hoax of Balancing the Budget
Talk
of a balanced government budget, or a surplus or deficit for that
matter, is a
hoax to divert attention from the public expenditures and lack of an
economic
base of the federal government. The attention directed towards a
balanced
budget, deficit or surplus to the extent it becomes an aim in itself
renders
government finances a mystery of state.
Any modern country with a developed socialized economy
has necessary
constant public investments to meet the needs of the people, their
economy and
general interests of society. If those investments are not met, then
the people,
economy and society suffer and may collapse. Those necessary public
investments include social programs in health, education and the
people's
culture and welfare, public services, infrastructure and extended
reproduction
of the basic economic sectors.
The government of any modern country with a developed
socialized
economy must have an economic base from which it claims revenue to
finance
its public investments. The economic base of governments is found in
public
enterprises (crown corporations) from which they claim revenue such as
Canada Post, power generation, liquor wholesale and retail distribution
and
others. On this front of revenue, privatization of public enterprise or
its
incorporation into private-public partnerships narrows the government's
economic base and source of revenue. Governments also make claims on
the
added-value the working class produces and distributes throughout the
socialized economy and on the services it provides while working in
enterprises not under government ownership and control. The claims of
governments on this added-value are realized through taxation of
individuals
and businesses. A government can also claim revenue through public
financing
of itself. It can borrow money from itself for purposes of investing in
the
country. The secured guarantee of the borrowed money exists in the
assets of
the country and its future economic prospects and expanded value of its
people
and economy but this method has been mostly overlooked in favour of
government borrowing from individuals and private interests.
A truism would be to say that government
investments
cannot be made
without a source of revenue. The primary factor in the budget dialectic
is
investments and the secondary factor revenue. The contradiction between
the
two factors drives a budget forward from conception to completion.
Without
investments there is no revenue; without revenue there are no
investments.
Investments drive revenue and revenue fulfills investments giving rise
to a new
quality. Balance of the two is only coincidental and temporary, as the
dialectic
unfolds within a conscious plan of action to develop and categorize the
necessary investments and realize the revenue necessary to fulfil
investments.
The Harper government hides government finances and
makes the federal
budget a mystery of state. One of the methods is to say that it needs a
balanced budget, which is incoherent as it deals with neither how the
government develops and categorizes its investments nor how it
develops,
categorizes and clarifies how to realize revenue.
Finance Minister Flaherty spreads the mystery of state
while explaining the
2013 budget saying, "To ensure that Canada is well positioned to
withstand
any future economic shocks and address the future priorities of
Canadians,
Economic Action Plan 2013 sets out a low-tax plan to eliminate the
deficit and
return to balanced budgets by 2015-16. It achieves this by controlling
direct
program spending by federal departments, while maintaining the
Governments
commitment not to raise taxes or cut transfers to Canadians and other
levels
of government."
The statement is an incoherent mess. The aim of
the
budget becomes its
"balance," which is a mere description of a fleeting phenomenon of the
thing
itself. How can a description of a thing in a temporary or transitory
state be
considered an aim? A temporary state of balance does not describe the
dynamic relationship between investments and revenue or what the aim
should
be. The relationship is mostly in imbalance and this imbalance is a
necessary
dynamic feature of the dialectic leading to a new quality.
With investments as primary, the secondary factor
(revenue) struggles to
assert itself. If revenue becomes a surplus, it must give way to the
primary
factor of increased investments, as investments in the people, economy
and
society are infinitely needed and revenue infinitely needed to complete
the
necessary investments. When revenue becomes a deficit, the government's
economic base requires expansion to satisfy the necessity for
investments.
Flaherty speaks of reducing the primary factor in the
budget dialectic
(investments) so that it does not interfere with Harper's aim to
balance the
budget. Flaherty attacks investments in social programs with his words
of
"controlling direct program spending by federal departments." This
becomes
disinformation regarding where government investment is directed and
where
it is necessary.
Within the incoherent aim to balance the budget,
Flaherty likewise attacks
revenue. In doing so, Flaherty attacks the economic base of the federal
government so as to hand over all public assets to private interests.
The words
of Flaherty are well underway in deeds as the government assaults its
own
economic base through privatization, private-public partnerships,
selling off of
public assets, destruction of the civil service, and lowering of
corporate
taxation such as the accelerated write-off (three years) of newly
purchased
equipment.
The Harper government does not want to talk directly of
government
investments and revenue because it has turned over public finances to
private
interests. Government investments and revenue serve the most powerful
private
monopoly interests. To hide this reality from the people, Harper and
other
governments engage in disinformation such as their constant chatter of
balanced budgets, deficits, cutbacks to spending and anti-social
austerity. They
have made public finances and budgets a mystery of state.
For Your Information: Government Summary of 2012
Accounts
The largest single investment in a particular government
program goes to the military amounting to $22.8 billion in fiscal year
2011-12, which was 8 per cent of the federal budget. The largest
unproductive demand on government revenue goes to service the public
debt amounting to $31 billion in 2011-12, which was 11 per cent of the
federal budget. The
people
should ask why the government owes money to private individuals and
institutions. This is a fraud existing mainly to pay the rich on a
secure and
consistent basis. Apologists for this backwardness say that government
does
not have enough revenue to finance its investments and must borrow from
private individuals and institutions. This argument declares revenue as
the
primary factor of the budget, which is wrong. This argument covers up
the
reality that government refuses to build its economic base from which
it can
realize revenue to meet its necessary investments.
Your Tax Dollar: 2011-2012 Fiscal Year
- Department of Finance -
Transfer Payments
During 2011-12, the federal government had
expenses
totaling
$271.4 billion.
Payments that go directly to persons, to provincial and
territorial governments, and to other organizations are called
"transfers."
Transfers are the largest category of government
spending. They
made up about 59 cents of each tax dollar spent ($159.7
billion).
Transfers to Persons
Major transfers to persons cost 25 cents
of
each tax
dollar spent ($68.4 billion).
The biggest category within Transfers to Persons was
elderly
benefits.
These transfers include:
* Old Age Security
* Guaranteed Income Supplement
* Allowance for Spouses
Total elderly benefits cost $38.0 billion, or 14
cents of
each tax dollar spent.
Another major transfer to persons is Employment
Insurance (EI)
benefits. Altogether, EI benefits cost over 6 cents of
every tax dollar spent ($17.6 billion).
For information on EI premiums, see the section entitled
"Where
the money comes from."
The final category of Transfers to Persons is Children's
Benefits. Canada provided $12.7 billion to help families raise
their children through the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the
Universal Child Care Benefit. These payments cost almost 5
cents of every tax dollar spent.
Transfers to Persons: Families and Children
Canada also provides assistance to low- and
modest-income
families -- especially those with children -- through the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) credit ($3.9 billion).
Transfers to Provincial and Territorial Governments
Major transfers to other levels of government
totaled
$56.8
billion, or 21 cents of each tax dollar spent. These
transfers help fund health care, post-secondary education and
other programs for Canadians.
The Canada Health Transfer provided $27.2 billion for
health
programs, representing 10 cents of each tax dollar
spent.
The Canada Social Transfer provided $11.5 billion for
post-secondary
education, social programs and programs for children,
representing over 4 cents of each tax dollar spent.
Other major transfers, including the Equalization and
Territorial
Formula Financing programs and the gas tax transfers to cities
and communities, totaled roughly 7 cents of every tax
dollar ($18.1 billion).
The Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing
programs help
less prosperous provinces and territories provide services that
are reasonably comparable at reasonably comparable levels of
taxation. Gas tax transfers help Canada's cities and communities
provide municipal infrastructure.
Transfers to Provincial and Territorial Governments:
Health Care
Federal support for health care goes beyond
cash
payments
under the Canada Health Transfer and the Equalization and
Territories Financing Formula programs.
In 1977, provinces assumed a share of federal taxes to
supplement
direct cash transfers. In 2011-12, these "tax points" added some
$22.1 billion to provincial finances for programs such as health
care, post-secondary education, social assistance and social
services.
In addition, the Government of Canada provided about $6
billion
last year for:
* First Nations health services
* Health care for veterans
* Health research
* Programs for public health
Other Transfer Payments
Last year, spending on federal grants,
contributions
and
subsidies added up to $34.5 billion, close to 13 cents of each
tax dollar spent. This included approximately:
* $7.7 billion in transfers for First Nations and
Aboriginal
peoples;
* $1.7 billion in assistance to farmers and other food
producers;
* $4.9 billion in foreign aid and other international
assistance;
* $7.5 billion in support for research and development,
infrastructure, regional development and assistance to
businesses.
Other funding went to student assistance programs,
health
research and promotion, the arts, amateur sports, and
multiculturalism and bilingualism.
Other Program Expenses
After transfers, the bulk of federal tax
dollars went
to
cover the operating costs of the more than 130 government
departments, agencies, Crown corporations and other federal
bodies that provide programs and services for Canadians.
Government operating expenses such as salaries and
benefits,
facilities and equipment, and supplies and travel made up 30
cents of each tax dollar spent ($80.7 billion). Close to half
of this spending -- just under 15 cents of each tax
dollar -- went to just three organizations: National Defence, Public
Safety Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency.
Defence
First, spending last year by National Defence
on
Canada's
military forces made up 8 cents of each tax dollar spent
($22.8 billion).
Public Safety
Next, operating costs of Public Safety and
Emergency
Preparedness represented close to 4 cents of each tax
dollar spent ($9.4 billion).
This includes funding for the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police, the
federal prison system, and border traffic and security
operations.
Canada Revenue Agency
And third, expenses of the Canada Revenue
Agency, which
administers the federal tax system (and also collects taxes for
all provinces except Quebec) totaled $7.9 billion, or roughly 3
cents of each tax dollar spent.
Other Operations
A further $32.3 billion -- 12 cents of
each tax
dollar --
was spent on the operations of the other federal departments and
agencies.
These included major departments such as:
* Environment
* Fisheries and Oceans
* Health
* Human Resources and Skills Development
* Industry
* Justice
* Natural Resources
* Public Works
* Transport
* Veterans Affairs
Funding also went to federal agencies such as the
Canadian Food
Inspection Agency, Parks Canada and the Canadian International
Development Agency.
Paying for Parliament
One of the smallest spending slices goes to
Parliament
itself -- the House of Commons, the Senate and the Library of
Parliament.
Last year, the combination of salaries and benefits for
Members
of Parliament, Senators and parliamentary staff, and spending on
facilities and services, totaled $565 million. That's less than
one-quarter of a cent of every tax dollar spent.
Crown Corporations
Crown corporations (organizations owned
directly or
indirectly by the government) cost $8.2 billion, or 3
cents of each tax dollar spent.
* Most of this spending was by two organizations:
* Canadian Commercial Corporation -- $2.4 billion and
* Atomic Energy of Canada Limited -- $2.0 billion.
Funding was also provided to cultural organizations
(including
the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of
Civilization and the Canada Council for the Arts), to enterprises
like VIA Rail, and to the Canadian Tourism Commission.
These costs were partially offset by revenues earned by
the Crown
Corporations, which totaled $4.0 billion in 2011-12. These
revenues are included as part of the Government's other revenues
discussed in the section entitled "Where the money comes
from".
Public Debt Charges
Interest charges on Canada's public debt --
money borrowed
by
the federal government over the years and not yet repaid -- cost
$31.0 billion. That's about11 cents of every tax dollar
spent.
Currently, 75% of this debt is owed to Canadians,
including
citizens and domestic institutions holding federal bonds,
Treasury bills and other forms of the debt.
Where your tax dollar goes: Summary
That's our brief summary of federal spending for
2011--12.
Click to enlarge.
|
* Canada Health Transfer (10 cents)
* Canada Revenue Agency (3 cents)
* Canada Social Transfer (4 cents)
* Children's benefits (5 cents)
* Crown corporations (3 cents)
* Defence (8 cents)
* Employment Insurance benefits (6 cents)
* Other major transfers to other levels of government (7
cents)
* Other operations (12 cents)
* Other transfer payments (13 cents)
* Public debt charges (11 cents)
* Public Safety (4 cents)
* Support to elderly (14 cents)
Where the Money Comes From
During 2011-- 12, the federal government
recorded $245.2
billion in revenues.
These revenues came from:
* Personal income tax -- $119.3 billion, or almost 49
cents
of every dollar raised in revenues.
* Corporate income tax -- about $31.7 billion, close to 13
cents of every dollar.
* Goods and Services Tax -- $28.4 billion, or 11
cents of
every dollar.
A number of other taxes -- such as non-resident
withholding taxes,
customs import duties, energy taxes and excise taxes and duties
on alcohol and tobacco -- made up $20.0 billion, or 8 cents
of every dollar raised in revenues.
As well, Employment Insurance premiums contributed $18.6
billion
to federal revenues, roughly 8 cents of every dollar in
revenues.
And other revenues -- such as earnings by Crown
corporations and
revenues from the sale of goods and services -- provided the
remaining $27.3 billion, or 11 cents of every tax
dollar.
Where the Money Comes From: Summary
* Corporate income tax (13 cents)
* Earnings by Crown corporations and revenues from the
sale of
goods and services (11 cents)
* Employment Insurance premiums (8 cents)
* Non-resident withholding taxes, customs import duties,
energy
taxes and excise taxes and duties on alcohol and tobacco (8
cents)
* Personal income tax (49 cents)
* Revenues from the Goods and Services Tax (11 cents)
The Budgetary Deficit
The $26.2-billion difference between the
government's
total
expenses of $271.4 billion and total revenues of $245.2 billion
is the 2011--12 budgetary deficit. The budgetary deficit
represents an increase in the federal debt (accumulated
deficit).
More About These Numbers
The federal government calculates its financial
results
over
a 12-month "fiscal year" that ends every March 31. This
presentation is based on the Annual Financial Report of the
Government of Canada for the most recent complete fiscal year,
2011--12.
So that's the story of where your federal tax dollar
goes, and
how it is raised. If you want more detailed information, we've
provided a series of useful links.
Useful Links
More information on Government of Canada finances is
available from these sources:
Annual Financial Report
The Annual
Financial
Report
of
the
Government
of
Canada provides overall
financial data on federal revenues and spending on a full accrual
accounting basis for the most recent complete fiscal year. It is
available through the Finance Canada website under Publications.
Fiscal Reference Tables
Along with the Annual Financial Report, Finance Canada
also publishes its annual Fiscal Reference
Tables. Financial information on the provinces and territories is
also included. The tables are available through the Finance Canada
website under Publications.
The Fiscal Monitor
The annual Debt Management
Report covers key elements of the federal debt strategy, and
strategic and operational aspects of the Government's debt program and
cash management activities over the past year. It is available on the
Finance Canada website under Publications.
Public Accounts
The Public Accounts of Canada contain the Government's
audited financial statements for the most recent fiscal year, and
details of financial operations by each ministry. It is available
through the Public Works and Government Services Canada website at http://www.pwgsc.gc.ca/recgen/text/pub-acc-e.html.
Debt Management Report
The annual Debt Management
Report covers key elements of the federal debt strategy, and
strategic and operational aspects of the Government's debt program and
cash management activities over the past year. It is available on the
Finance Canada website under Publications.
Canada Revenue Agency
While the Department of Finance is responsible for
setting federal tax policy, it is the Canada Revenue
Agency (CRA) that manages the actual revenue collection for the
federal government. A quick overview of CRA operations (and access to
the agency's annual operating report and Internet home page) is
available at the Canada Revenue Agency's Website.
Summary of 2012 Budget
- Department of Finance -
Click image to download PDF (30 pages).
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