Death by fiscal drip, drip, drip

In the interest of transparency, it says, Table A1.3 of last week’s fiscal update provides details of all “off-cycle” funding decisions — that is, all new spending Ottawa has committed to since this year’s budget, which came down March 22. That was 32 weeks ago. According to the table, there have been 43 tweaks to the spending plan. That’s one every five days if you include weekends; every 3.7 days if you don’t.

Nothing’s really gigantic. The biggest single expenditure is only $173 million. (Listen to me: “only $173 million.” What’s become of us?) It’s for renewal of Operation IMPACT, Canada’s contribution “to the Global Coalition against Daesh,” Daesh being Eurocrat-speak for ISIL.

But somehow that and the other 42 changes all add up to $1.833 billion this budget year, growing to $2.299 billion in 2022–23. That’s not gigantic, either. (I can’t believe I’m saying that.) Total spending will be $329.1 billion this year and $380.7 billion in 2022–23. So we’re talking 0.56 per cent of this year’s spending and 0.60 per cent of 2022–23’s. But still: $1.833 billion is $1.833 billion. Reading through the list, you get the impression we’re being eaten alive by the fine print. The biggest items are: $138 million (net of departmental resources) to “maintain core Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Canadian Coast Guard Services,” though shouldn’t core services have been in the real budget?

$133 million this year under “Defence Policy Review,” which says it’s a “long-term commitment” to provide the armed forces “with the resources required to meet Canada’s defence needs at home and abroad.” In fact, most of the out-year entries are negative, indicating reduced spending. So our off-cycle “commitment” is actually to cut?

$106 million for “protecting Canada’s missions and people abroad,” which sounds reasonable enough, though again maybe reasonable enough to have been taken care of back in March.

$94 million for “supporting RCMP front-line operations,” which is a mainly one-time, this-year-only payment to get through a backlog in the “RCMP External Review Committee.”

$93 million for “improving employee pay,” which seems to be for bonuses this year “to attract additional and retain current compensation advisors” rebuilding the government’s disastrous payroll system. At the height of the financial crisis Americans were outraged when failing banks paid bonuses to key personnel. But how else do you keep them on to see to the safe submersion of the sinking ship? Ottawa’s troubled pay system seems a similar operation.

Some of the smaller items are even more intriguing.

$2 million a year for two years “to implement an expungement scheme for Canadians previously convicted of consensual sexual activity with same-sex partners.” The expungement is not actually of the Canadians themselves but of their criminal records. Seems like a fine idea. But $4 million to do it? How many such records can there be? It might be cheaper just to fold them into the pay system, where they’d be sure to disappear.

$123 million over three years, but no longer, for “improving delivery of benefits for seniors.” After three years seniors are on their own?

A revenue cut of $1 million this year and $3 million a year after that by cutting more tariffs under the Canada-Israel FTA. If only we could anticipate a similar entry for a renewed NAFTA. The way the NAFTA talks are going — a return to pre-NAFTA protectionism — we’ll get more tariff revenue but will suffer big losses in economic well-being.

$21 million this year and a total of $129 million over the next five for “strengthening and enforcing drug-impaired driving,” which we should probably assume is not really a plan to enforce drug-impaired driving but rather an expressionimpaired way of saying the government will be working on such things as breathalyzer tests for drugs.

$1 million to support Quebec flooding “victims” (i.e., people who have decided to live on flood plains) and $50 million to support “those affected by the British Columbia wildfires.” I hope the Bloc Québécois hasn’t noticed the asymmetry in relief, which could provide it with some political relief.

$59 million this year and $487 million over the next four years, but not beyond, for a “new legal framework to strictly regulate and restrict access to cannabis.” In fact, isn’t the new legal framework to radically deregulate and open up access to cannabis? We’ve been strictly regulating and restricting access for 70 years. Now we’re moving the other way. Or are we having second thoughts?

That some parts of government never rest — defence, the RCMP, the Coast Guard — is comforting to know. New spending every 3.7 days, not so much.