Canada’s deficit ticks higher to $13.2B – Business – CBC News.
The devastating Alberta floods this summer made a significant dent in the federal government’s finances this year. (The Canadian Press)The Canadian government has spent $13.2 billion more than it has taken in so far this year, a slightly larger deficit than the one for the same period in 2012.
The Department of Finance said Monday the federal deficit was $13.2 billion for the fiscal year up to October. That’s ahead of the $11.9 billion during the same period in 2012.
But that data is skewed by two major one-time events that impacted Ottawa’s finances: The Alberta floods of last summer, and the government’s sale of $700 million worth of GM shares in September.
Excluding the two events, the annual deficit would have been slightly smaller, at $11.1 billion.
For the fiscal year as a whole, Ottawa has taken in $144.9 billion and spent $158.2 billion so far. On a monthly basis, October’s deficit was $2.5 billion, the same as the one from the same month last year.
“The Government remains on track to balance the budget in 2015,” the department said in a release.
Olduvaiblog: Musings on the coming collapse 
Maybe it’s just me but this article paints the CBC as an apologist for the government’s increased deficit spending. They have provided an excuse: it was two ‘one-time’ events that pushed the deficit higher than ‘expected’. They then proceed to highlight the lower deficit number and that the government is expecting a surplus next year to balance the budget. No where is there any kind of ‘analysis’ of the ongoing budget deficits or the size of the Canadian debt and how much it has increased in the past few years. Lazy, lazy journalism.
SB