The Harper government is on the brink of exhausting its fiscal surplus on a pre-election spending plan that is at odds with what Canadians want..

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released a national Environics poll this week showing that any government that takes concrete action to reduce Canada’s growing income gap would enjoy support from the majority of Canadians.

Yet the Centre’s 2007 Alternative Federal Budget, released Thursday, warns that the federal surplus that should be used to invest in Canadian priorities could quickly disappear.

In less than a year, the Conservative government,largely through ill-advised tax cuts, poorly targetedhandouts, and an increase in militaryspending, is well on its way to emptying the fiscalcupboard.

“Prime Minister Harper’s tax cuts plan is so expensive, he may soon find himself having to choose between putting the nation back into deficit or slashing programs,” says CCPA senior economist Ellen Russell.

The Centre predicts the 2006-07 surplus will be $9.2 billion but the Harper government will need more money than this to pay for its pre-election promises. The surplus could run out as early as next year.

“There may soon be no surplus left to address Canadians’ priorities, such as child care, affordable housing and tuition,” Russell says. “Prime Minister Harper is putting Canada into a no-win situation âe” and he’s at odds with what Canadians say they want.”

Canadians cherish the social programs whichdistinguish us from Americans. In fact, the majorityof Canadians worry that an uncheckedgrowing gap between the rich and the rest of uswill make Canada more like the U.S. — and theyreject that vision.

Unfortunately, in spite of record low unemployment,strong growth, improved debt-to-GDPratios, and a string of federal budget surpluses,more than one in ten Canadians lives in poverty — over one million of them children.

And, althoughthe number of Canadians living belowStatistics Canada’s after-tax low-income cut-offhas declined, inequality is rising — between regions,between men and women, between youngerand older workers, and between the rich andpoor.

On average, the top 100 Canadian CEOsmake 240 times the income of the average Canadianworker. In every Canadian jurisdiction,minimum wages are so low that working fulltimefor a full year at those rates still can’t get afamily out of poverty.

Canadians know something is seriously amissand express considerable worry about what liesahead for our families, our neighbours, ourcommunity.

Here are some of the subjects covered in this year’s Alternative Federal Budget:

  • The AFB Fiscal Framework

  • Expenditure Review and Democratic Accountability

  • Tax Fairness: The Tax System under Strain

  • Fiscal Imbalance

  • Aboriginal Peoples

  • Agriculture

  • Canada — U.S. Relations

  • Child Care and Early Learning

  • Cities and Communities

  • Culture and the Arts

  • Defence and Development

  • Employment Insurance

  • Environment

  • Equality for Women

  • Health Care

  • Housing and Neighbourhoods

  • Industrial Restructuring, Sectoral Development,Training, and Protection for Workers

  • Post-Secondary Education

  • Privatization, Contracting-Out, and P3s

  • Retirement and Seniors’ Benefits

This year’s Alternative Federal Budget shows there is a way to invest the surplus in tangible programs that support Canada’s working families while keeping the nation in a balanced budget situation.