Small but smart moves

If there’s a theme to the Conservative government’s budget cuts, it’s that everything is on the table. From the complex and consequential — employment insurance and old- age security — to the tiny and simple, almost everything seems to be subject to review.

Not every cut has been wise. Some have been mishandled or poorly explained. And even the strictest thrift in some areas doesn’t compensate for those areas in which the government has seemed indifferent to the costs of its policies, as with the F- 35s or its crime agenda.

But the overall attitude, under the determined gaze of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, has been that every dollar must prove its worth. The answer that “we’ve always done it that way” isn’t good enough. Why should the RCMP continue to fund its own health services, for example?

The small and simple cuts have a significance beyond their individual dollar figures. They suggest the government is willing to turn out the couch cushions and come up with change. Good.

The elimination of the penny, for example, is not a new idea. But it took a government to decide that now is the time. It’s only $ 11 million a year, but $ 11 million saved is $ 11 million the government doesn’t have to take from taxpayers, or cut from services.

The same is true of the $ 17 million a year the government expects to save by phasing out cheques in favour of direct deposit. And of the $ 1.5 million a year the government will save by simply telling us what our Social Insurance Numbers are, rather than issuing cards we never use and aren’t supposed to carry with us.

These little cuts are sensible. There’s no partisan ulterior motive behind them; they’re conservative in the sense of being fiscally prudent. That makes them kind of boring. On their own, they’re not likely to lose or win votes. They’re not getting much attention. But they’re worthwhile all the same.