Okay, so it looks like you may have to wait a little bit longer to get your budget back from the Senate – probably closer to the end of the month than this Friday – but the good news is that it will be totally ready for Royal Assent by April 1st, and that’s what counts, right? Besides, as David Akin points out here, you still have to get the estimates through the House before you can start spending the principal, and that won’t happen until June – which, as he points out, is pretty much exactly how the timeline unfolds every year.
Okay, so it looks like you may have to wait a little bit longer to get your budget back from the Senate – probably closer to the end of the month than this Friday – but the good news is that it will be totally ready for Royal Assent by April 1st, and that’s what counts, right? Besides, as David Akin points out here, you still have to get the estimates through the House before you can start spending the principal, and that won’t happen until June – which, as he points out, is pretty much exactly how the timeline unfolds every year.
Anyway, here’s what Michael Ignatieff had to say about the Senate and the budget during the post-QP scrums:
Question: Mais je voudrais comprendre, vos sénateurs les Libéraux, les sénateurs Libéraux parlent de scinder en deux le projet de loi budgétaire afin de permettre l’étude plus approfondie de certaines lois. Vos députés eux ici ont jamais essayé même de faire ça. Ils ont même accepté qu’on étudie ça une journée. Comment expliquez-vous l’écart d’attitude entre les deux chambres?
Michael Ignatieff: Je, je crois que pour les Conservateurs, si le sénat Libéral n’existait pas, il aurait fallu l’inventer.
Question: Ça veut dire?
Michael Ignatieff: Avec un peu de courtoisie madame, je serai tout à fait prêt à vous répondre. La question n’est pas là. J’ai, j’ai eu une discussion avec le leadership Libéral du sénat. Ils sont d’accord avec leurs homologues Conservateurs de, de tenir des, des audiences sur le budget et de rapporter le budget le 26 ou le 27 mars. Alors il y aura aucun délai, aucun délai, aucun délai sur la livraison de ce budget et la livraison du, du stimulus à la population canadienne. […]
I have said in answer to the question from our French colleague, the Senate leadership of my party will, has reached an agreement with the Conservatives to hold hearings on the budgets, which is entirely their right and they have undertaken to make sure that the budget is reported on the 26th or 27th so that there will be literally no delay, repeat, no delay from the Liberal Party of Canada in getting needed, needed stimulus to Canadians.