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Dave MacKenzie: Not a

Thursday, 29 March 2012 07:35

The Harper government's first majority budget slashes spending, but Oxford's MP says it's not a "slash and burn" budget. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has announced what he calls "moderate'' cuts in spending worth 5.2 billion dollars over 3-years. For Oxford County residents, MP Dave MacKenzie says you will likely notice very little trickle down. "It's certainly not a slash-and-burn budget. I think on average, people on the street will not notice any real change. But what will occur is overtime, we'll get out of deficit and go back into a surplus situation." But Thursday's budget may have implications down the road for those 50-years-old and approaching. As widely signaled, Flaherty is raising the eligibility age for old age security to 67 from the current 65. But it's being phased in starting in April, 2023 and won't affect people over the age of 50. Flaherty is even stopping production of the penny to save 11-million dollars a year. Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie says it's been a long time coming. "It costs us 1.6-cents to make a penny. We've been hearing from people for a long time 'Why don't we get rid of it?'. Other nations have done it so it makes good sense (or is it cents)." MacKenzie also alluded to a 150-million dollar infrastructure fund announced in today's budget that he says some local municipalities "may be interested in applying for."

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