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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Julius Wong who wrote (107877)	10/8/2014 8:54:58 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217915

Contrary to TJ, now, I sympathise with the students that want to keep their heritage alive and speak Cantonese. If at least 20 to 30 million people speak Cantonese that is in itself a language and a heritage that should be IMHO respected. Can anyone count how many countries have a population lower than 30 million and a specific distinguished language from their neighboring country? Europe and the former Soviet republic Asian countries comes to mind and there should be much more. en.wikipedia.org

To: Julius Wong who wrote (107877)	10/9/2014 1:51:40 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 217915

Canada’s Budget Spending-to-GDP Falls to Lowest in Half Century Lucky Canadians! By Theophilos Argitis Oct 6, 2014 8:37 PM GMT+0300 Canada’s budget spending as a share of the economy fell last year to the lowest in half a century as Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government cut outlays and reaped the benefits of historically low interest rates. Total federal government expenses dropped to 14.7 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year that ended March 31, the finance department said today in its Annual Financial Report. That’s the lowest since at least 1966, according to Finance department data released today. Harper’s Conservative Party government is close to reversing recession-era deficits and bringing the country’s finances back to balance as it pushes ahead with cuts to direct-program spending, which excludes transfers to provinces and people. The government is also benefiting from the lowest debt charges as a share of output in decades as global borrowing costs plunged this year. “Due to our responsible management of taxpayers’ dollars, we remain on track to balance the budget next fiscal year,” Finance Minister Joe Oliver said today in a statement. Oliver reiterated the government intends to enact tax breaks once the budget gap is closed. Harper, gearing up for an election scheduled for no later than October 2015, will seek to parlay his economic stewardship into another majority as he fends off challenges from Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau and Tom Mulcair of the New Democratic Party. Small Deficit Today’s report showed the federal government ran a deficit of C$5.2 billion in the last fiscal year, beating its original projection by almost C$11 billion. The report cited one-time tax assessments and foreign exchange gains that fueled revenue above projections. Harper said last week the government expects to run a small deficit in the current fiscal year before returning to surplus in 2015. Revenue as a share of GDP rose to 14.4 percent, from 14.1 percent the previous year and down from 16 percent in 2006. Direct program expenses, which made up about 42 percent of total spending, fell 1.3 percent last year and now represent 6.2 percent of GDP. While down from 6.5 percent the previous year and 7.8 percent in 2009, direct program spending is still above levels recorded at the end of the 1990s under the Liberals. In their 2014 budget, the Conservatives forecast direct program spending will decline to 5.4 percent of output by 2017. Public debt charges fell to 1.5 percent of GDP, from 1.6 percent the previous year. That’s also the lowest since 1966.