1993 Canadian federal budget

Last updated
1993 Budget of the Canadian Federal Government
Canadian federal Budget '93 logo.svg
Presented26 April 1993
Parliament 34th
Party Progressive Conservative
Finance minister Don Mazankowski
Deficit $38.5 billion [1]
  1992
1994

The 1993 Canadian budget was a Canadian federal budget for the Government of Canada presented by Minister of Finance Don Mazankowski in the House of Commons of Canada on 26 April 1993. It was the fifth budget after the 1988 Canadian federal election and would be the last before the 1993 Canadian federal election.

Contents

Background

The budget was presented amid poor economic conditions and soaring federal deficit. Two month earlier, Brian Mulroney had announced his intention to resign as soon as a new Progressive Conservative leader is elected.

On 18 June 1992 the Spending Control Act received royal assent. That act provided for a legislated ceiling for federal program spending from 1991–1992 to 1995–1996. Few programs were excluded from the scope of the Act (notably Unemployment insurance). [2] It is a complement to the Expenditure Control Plan announced in the 1990 budget and extended in 1991.

December 1992 Economic Statement

On 2 December 1992 Minister of Finance Don Mazankowski tabled an Economic and Fiscal Statement in the House of Commons of Canada which: [3]

Taxes

The budget did not bring sweeping tax changes but introduced some technical changes for corporations :

Expenditures

The budget planned for $7.5 billion of expenditure cuts over 5 years. Most of the cuts were however announced in the December 1992 Economic Statement [3] ($5.3 billion) and few cuts were contained in the 1993 budget ($1.2 billion): [15]

Reactions

The budget was poorly received, and described as "stand pat", [16] "do nothing", [17] "non-budget" [18] and a "lame duck". [19] Claude Picher, from La Presse, pointed out that the 100-pages long budget was one of the shortest budget ever and strongly criticized its lack of substance, overoptimistic economic forecasts and unimaginative measures. [18]

Preceding the budget, Mazankowski had stated that government revenues would decrease compared to 1992 as a result of "slow economic growth, continued high unemployment and low inflation". [20]

The Canadian Bond Rating Service downgraded Canada's federal debt rating from AAA to AA+, [16] and the budgetary deficit for the fiscal year was expected to be $32.6 billion. Mazankowski stated that the rating service had based its decision on "erroneous information". [16]

The value of the Canadian dollar declined with respect to the United States dollar in the foreign exchange market the day after the budget speech, [16] and interest rates "climbed sharply". [17]

Aftermath

Legislative history

The budget was implemented through multiple bills:

Notes and references

Notes

    References

    1. "Canada's deficits and surpluses, 1963-2014". CBC News. CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    2. Budget plan , p. 68
    3. 1 2 Economic Statement.
    4. S.C. 1994, c 8, s 19.
    5. Girard, Michel (4 December 1992). "Mazankowski et les placements". La Presse (in French). Montreal. p. B5.
    6. S.C. 1993, c 13, s 9.
    7. S.C. 1993, c 13, s 12.
    8. S.C. 1993, c 13, s 11.
    9. S.C. 1993, c 13, s 10.
    10. S.C. 1993, c 13, s 18.
    11. S.C. 1993, c 13, s 13.
    12. Economic Statement, p. 15.
    13. 1 2 Budget plan, p. 76.
    14. Budget plan, p. 77.
    15. Lortie, Marie-Claude (27 April 1993). "Compressions dans le fonctionnement de l'État : très peu de nouveau" (in French). Montréal: La Presse. p. A3. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
    16. 1 2 3 4 McCarthy, Shawn (28 April 1993). "Ottawa credit rating hit by budget fears". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
    17. 1 2 Beauchesne, Eric (28 April 1993). "Consumer may pay for federal budget Dollar down, interest rates up". The Hamilton Spectator. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
    18. 1 2 Picher, Claude (27 April 1993). "Le monde selon Maz". La Presse. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
    19. "Federal budget A lame-duck effort". The Hamilton Spectator. 27 April 1993. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
    20. Ferguson, Jonathan (26 April 1993). "Ottawa set to impose tough spending cuts". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
    21. S.C. 1993, c 13.
    22. S.C. 1994, c 8.
    23. Canada, Parliament (1994-04-19). House of Commons Debates. 35th Parliament, 1st Session. Vol. III. Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada. pp. 3194–3201.

    Budget documents

    Draft and enacted legislation