On March 4th, the federal budget will be presented by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in Ottawa. And I, like most commentators, am expecting a “steady-as-she-goes” budget that looks forward to the future.  With the recession winding down, our number one job, at the national level, is to keep tackling unemployment because nothing is more important to Canadians economically than their jobs.  However, at the same time, we need to start planning to get rid of the deficit.  And to do that, we are going to review spending to make sure taxpayers get good value for their money. This may involve cuts to spending in upcoming years, which may not be popular.  The choice we will have to make will be clear: cutting grants and spending in a targeted fashion or raising taxes.  The Liberals, NDP and the Bloc want to raise your taxes. Your Conservative Government wants to limit spending.
 
I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.