Canada finance minister sets April 21 for federal budget

Canada's Finance Minister Joe Oliver Thursday finally announced that Economic Action Plan 2015 will be tabled on April 21, after weeks of delay due to the oil price plunge.
Oliver announced the budget schedule at outerwear manufacturer Canada Goose's factory in Toronto, instead of generally in the House of Commons.
"We're not looking at a budget that will be cutting. We are looking at a budget that will be providing benefits to Canadians and encouraging more job growth," he told reporters.
The Canadian federal budgets are usually tabled between mid- February and mid-March, before the April 1 start of the government 's fiscal year.
Oliver's announcement in January that he would delay the budget until later in the Spring was a surprise.
He acknowledged that people have been waiting for the budget for months.
"We needed to assess the implications of the dramatic fall in oil prices and its instability on the Canadian economy and on our fiscal framework. And we needed the time to obtain as much information as possible to make reasoned fiscal decisions and receive current forecasts from our independent economic advisors whose projections we rely on," he said.
"We now have the information we need to make informed decisions, " he said.
The minister, however, provided few details of the budget content.
The 2015 plan, according to the finance ministry's official announcement, will highlight how the government will fulfill its commitment to Canadians to balance the budget, support small businesses and manufacturers, support Canadian families and reduce taxes for Canadians.
Weighed by the crunch of the oil prices, Canada is now facing a risk of economic volatility. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said on March 30 that a slump in oil prices was having an " atrocious" effect on the economy.
However, in his Thursday speech, Oliver didn't think the economy is heading into a recession. He believed that Canada does not need the kind of stimulus budget during the great recession.
"We are not in a recession now, but we are going to continue to make investments in the future," he said.