Canada’s federal budgets: All you ever wanted to know

Karl Kofmel & Jesse M. Kelly, Postmedia News 

Canada&#8217;s federal budgets: All you ever wanted to know

Prime Minister Joe Clark's government was toppled over its budget in 1979.

/ Postmedia News

1. How often is a federal budget delivered?

The federal budget is presented annually. The only years in which a budget was not released were 1907 and 1910.

2. How many finance ministers has Canada had?

Jim Flaherty is Canada’s 37th finance minister.

3. Which finance minister has delivered the most budgets since Confederation?

William Stevens Fielding, with 18. He served 22 years, 10 months and 14 days from 1896 to 1925 with the Liberal party.

4. Which party has delivered the most budgets since Confederation?

The Liberal Party of Canada has delivered the most budgets: 86.

5. Has a government ever been toppled over a budget?

Yes, twice. The Trudeau Liberal government lost a non-confidence vote over a budget in 1974, and the Joe Clark Conservatives lost a non-confidence vote in 1979. The Liberals won majorities in both ensuing elections.

6. Has the budget ever been leaked ahead of time? If so, what happened?

In 1989, some details on the federal budget were leaked to Global News reporter Doug Small. He released the contents of the “Budget in Brief” a day early, forcing the finance minister, Michael Wilson, to release the document at a late-night news conference.

7. What is a budget lockup?

During a budget lock-up, is journalists and experts are gathered in a building so they can read the budget before it is tabled. The Internet is locked and no phones are allowed in; the journalists and experts are not allowed out. They can only reveal the contents of the budget once the finance minister tables it in Parliament.

8. Why is the budget speech so late in the day?

The budget is presented after 4 p.m. ET so that the financial sector and the public can consider its contents overnight and it will not affect stock markets immediately as the markets are closed for the day.

9. When was the last time the budget was balanced?

The last balanced budget (or better) was put forward in 2007-2008 by the Conservatives with an approximate surplus of $9.6 billion. The global recession and increased spending led to a deficit in 2008-2009 of $5.8 billion.

10. Does Jim Flaherty always buy new shoes on budget day?

Jim Flaherty does not buy new shoes every budget day. In 2011 budgets, 2008, and 2007, for instance, he did not. He purchased Roots “economic action plan shoes” this year.

11. What’s up with this shoe thing, anyway?

Some say this tradition stems from the British Parliament, but Canada’s Library of Parliament says this is not the case. It says the first mention of the “new shoes” tradition was March 31, 1960, with Donald Fleming as finance minister. In conversations with budget ministers, or their assistants serving as far back as 1946, the Library of Parliament says it learned that the origins of this tradition were not consistently agreed upon even by former finance ministers.

12. What’s the difference between the budget, the estimates and the public accounts?

Main Estimates detail the government’s spending intentions for the upcoming fiscal year. The Public Accounts of Canada is the spending report of the Government of Canada, prepared annually by the Receiver General. It covers the fiscal year of the government, which ends on March 31. The federal budget of a country forecasts the amount of money that will be spent on a variety of expenses in the upcoming year. It also shows the priorities and political agenda of the government in power, whereas the other two documents are more dry and technical.

13. Is the budget the same thing as the economic action plan?

Yes, if you are the Harper government. For the Conservatives, the budget is referred to as an “economic action plan.”

14. What is the biggest spending federal department?

The biggest spender is National Defence, at more than $21 billion annually.

– With files from Kirsten Smith, Postmedia News.

