Federal budget includes new funding for ferry company

Marine Atlantic will get $175 million in new federal funding over the next two years.

That was one of the announcements in the federal budget released on Thursday.

Budget documents detail that the Crown corporation will receive $75 million in 2010-2011 and another $100 million the following year to "to help renew Marine Atlantic's fleet and shore facilities and improve the quality and reliability of its services."

Those are big numbers, but not as large as some may have hoped.

An Auditor General's report released in November said the company estimated the capital funding needed for fleet renewal would be between $800 million to $1.4 billion for up to 25 years. According to the report, another $150 million is needed for the renewal of shore-based assets, and business and management renewal requires an additional $12 million in capital costs.

The budget documents do not detail where or how the money allocated to Marine Atlantic will be spent.

The federal government announced in 2008 that it would contribute about $101 million over five years to allow the ferry company to lease the Atlantic Vision.

Budget details

The Conservatives fifth budget features a $53.8 billion deficit for the 2010-2011 year and estimates it will take until 2014-2015 to reduce that to a $1.8 billion shortfall.

The budget confirms $19 billion in federal stimulus spending, including $3.2 billion in personal income tax relief, $7.7 billion in infrastructure stimulus and $2.2 billion to support industries and communities.

The budget also included plans to return to balanced budgets "once the economy has recovered."

Measures introduced in the Economic Action Plan, such as the Home Renovation Tax Credit, will be wound down as planned, and spending will be cut by $17.6 billion over five years.

Those reductions include planned spending on the military, foreign aid and the public service.

Government will also undertake a "comprehensive review of government administrative functions and overhead costs to identify additional savings and improve service delivery," but promised not to "raise taxes or cut major transfers for health care, education and pensioners."

Judy Foote, MP for Random-Burin-St. George's, said the budget fails in a lot of respects.

She said it does little to help Canadians still reeling from a recession and points to a proposed "$13-billion payroll tax hike that will kill 220,000 small business jobs."

Mrs. Foote said the funding promised to Marine Atlantic isn't much better than what's been offered in previous years and falls far short of what's needed to address fleet renewal.

The MP added that the only mention of the fishery was in relation to funding to maintain access to the key markets around the world - a response to a new European Union regulation which requires exporting countries to provide catch certificates attesting that marine fish and seafood products are legally harvested.

"If it wasn't for the European Union, the fishery wouldn't even have been mentioned," she said.

"There is nothing in the budget on pensions, culture, health care, funding for veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, broadband and the list goes on," said Mrs. Foote.

See www.gulfnews.ca to download the government's budget document.

editor@gulfnews.ca