Student Budget Consultation Results

For the very first time, high school students had the opportunity to advise Canada’s Minister of Finance, on the federal budget through the Student Budget Consultation.  More than 4,000 students took part from across the country.

Last Thursday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was briefed on the Student Budget Consultation results at at his office in Ottawa.  Flaherty expressed his thanks to CIVIX for conducting a “terrific consultation,” and noted the “very interesting results.”

“One of the primary concerns is balancing budgets, reducing deficits and so on, which is dear to my heart,” said Flaherty. Flaherty expects that this will be a project that will “continue from year to year.”

At the event, Minister Flaherty announced that the 2013-2014 federal budget would be tabled on March 21^st. It will be interesting to see how recommendations from the students will be incorporated.

You can watch the entire press conference here.

GRADING THE BUDGET

Global News has created the Grading the Budget page to share results from the Student Budget Consultation. Nine articles have been published so far, and segments appeared on Global National and other local newscasts on Monday evening.

The articles discuss many of the Student Budget Consultation findings, including:

• Canadian students are fiscally conservative. Students favour low taxes, conservative spending. Students “put a premium” on paying down the federal deficit.
• Students are in favour of bigger government, noting its ability to boost the economy, innovation and jobs.
• Canadian students are more confident in Canada’s future than adults.
• Canadian students acknowledge the importance of fossil fuels to the Canadian economy, but are uneasy about the potential environmental and economic risks.
• Students from British Columbia are more left-leaning on issues like taxes, health care, the environment, and the economy.
• Students from Saskatchewan are the most optimistic about their economic futures, and their ability to find a job that interests them in Canada.
• Students from Ontario are wary of foreign takeovers, viewing them as bad for the economy.

You can view the complete results here. Click here for an infographic of the results highlights.

Dan

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