Budget won't pay for PM's promises - Globe and Mail

[Screaming Lord Byron]

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040316.wxbudget0316/BNStory/National/

Ottawa — Many of Prime Minister Paul Martin's Throne Speech promises will be left unfunded in next week's budget since a shortage of cash means no new programs for health, aboriginals, defence and international affairs.

And some of the promises that will receive funding in the March 23 budget, such as cities and the environment, won't get anything more than what was already announced in the Throne Speech in early February, federal sources said.

The Throne Speech usually lays out priorities in a general way, and the budget fills out the details that would implement them and sometimes expands on them. Some of Mr. Martin's promises were only outlines and this budget will not take them beyond that into reality.

Instead, it will be presented as a down-payment on future intentions, and the first step of a 10-year vision. Fiscal conservatism, careful money management and living within the government's means will be the overarching themes. "I will not spend money before I have it," Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said last week. "People should not expect a Christmas tree of giveaways because that's just not in the cards."