Ottawa weighs asset sale to avoid deficit

[jdobbin]

Nice going. Asset sales when the market is down is not exactly the best time to sell.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/politics/home

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the Harper government is considering selling off Canadian government assets as part of a bid to avoid a budget deficit, pointing to the landmark CN Tower as an example of something people might be surprised to learn that Ottawa owns.

His comments come as outside forecasts predict Ottawa may soon dip into the red. One leading bank economist has warned there's a risk of a $10-billion budget shortfall in each of the next two fiscal years.

[1967100]

Nice going. Asset sales when the market is down is not exactly the best time to sell.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/politics/home

Once again, Harper's NEOCONs tear a page out of another failed administration- that of Mike the Knife Harris, who as we all know left Ontario in deficit in 1993.

Hell. we reduced Mulrooney's party to 2 seats for giving us the GST (which got rid of the deficit) and NAFTA, while we give Harper 143 seats for screwing us into deficit with his rash GST 2% cut and his constant abuse of the crown corporations and civil workers.

[Vancouver King]

Nice going. Asset sales when the market is down is not exactly the best time to sell.

To think we could have been the envy of the world in the midst of this financial storm if only Harper and Co. and not taken the decisions to squander a $12 billion surplus, eliminate a $3 billion contingency fund and drain the treasury with questionable GST reductions.

So now we are reduced to fire sale asset disposals - truly an amazing performance yet somehow a fitting commentary on this govt's finance record.

[ReeferMadness]

I thought the Conservatives were supposed to be the business-savvy party. Only a dumb-ass would sell assets in a downturn unless absolutely necessary.

Somebody tell Flaherty to grab a brain.

[drewski]

good old Jim

sell off assets to get a one-time cash infusion to make the books look good temporarily

[Sir Bandelot]

I see a pattern here... republicans, conservatives, neocons, leaving economic destruction in their wake. But somebody must be lining their pockets. Same with Mulroney. It's not business savy- it's a sellout.

[Brunopolis]

good old Jim

sell off assets to get a one-time cash infusion to make the books look good temporarily

You know which other country used this most excellent strategy? Argentina.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_eco...sis_(1999–2002)

I'm not saying that Canada is the same as Argentina but constantly relying on selling assets to "balance" the books will eventually lead to something similar to the little problem that they had.

[M.Dancer]

Selling the CN Tower makes sense. It serves no useful purpose anymore ...let an entertainment cmpany buy it and the land around it.

[guyser]

Selling the CN Tower makes sense. It serves no useful purpose anymore ...let an entertainment cmpany buy it and the land around it.

Who would buy it and how the H does one price it?

Want to go halfsies on it? Make one hell of a condo dont you think?

[M.Dancer]

Who would buy it and how the H does one price it?

Want to go halfsies on it? Make one hell of a condo dont you think?

I can't imagine who would want it. It's utility as an antennae is long past...

Personally I wouldn't care if they tore it down and put up a parking lot.

[margrace]

Well people go to Egypt to see the Pyramids, They go to england to see Buckingham Palace, but of course we don't need anything like that do we?

[OddSox]

Gee, the last time I was in Toronto you couldn't see the tower for smog...

[August1991]

Selling the CN Tower makes sense. It serves no useful purpose anymore ...let an entertainment cmpany buy it and the land around it.

I tend to agree Morris except that Flaherty explicitly stated that the government has no intention of selling the CN Tower.

This entire thread has taken a turn for the worse, based on a G&M article that was already sensationalized.

Flaherty was speaking at the Tories' Winnipeg policy convention and he noted that selling government assets may be a good idea. He then offered the example of the CN Tower to show that the federal government owns all kinds of stuff and many Canadians are unaware of what.

Here in Montreal, the federal government recently sold a large chunk of land (nifty video if you like 3D architect models) once occupied by the Post Office as a sorting facility. Now, a private developer will build condos.

As to the idea that the federal government is selling when the market is low, a government is not in the business to turn a profit. It should sell any unnecessary assets at fair market value. Secondly, real estate prices in Canada have not fallen like equity prices or like US real estate.

Also, selling assets is no financial trick to make a deficit disappear. Anybody who wants to can easily see what is happening. If Flaherty wants to and feels that politics requires it, there are much better and easier ways to hide a government budget deficit.

Edited November 14, 2008 by August1991

[M.Dancer]

Well people go to Egypt to see the Pyramids, They go to england to see Buckingham Palace, but of course we don't need anything like that do we?

What did Toronto do before 1976 without the world's largest freestanding phallus?

[Vancouver King]

Personally I wouldn't care if they tore it down and put up a parking lot.

Of course not, you are a Harper conservative, you are an expert at squandering money.

[M.Dancer]

Of course not, you are a Harper conservative, you are an expert at squandering money.

You're not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?

[guyser]

What did Toronto do before 1976 without the world's largest freestanding phallus?

Went to the CNE to listen to "doggy doggy" and eat ice cream waffles.

[noahbody]

You're not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?

He can cut through butter providing it's left out overnight on a warm stove.

[Kitchener]

It'd be one thing to sell off the CN Tower (why not, after all?). It's another thing to do it while the market's in the dumper.

Neo-cons in Canada have a long and dismal history of privatizing profit and socializing debt. Here's hoping the current crisis doesn't give them cover to do the same thing now.

[Vancouver King]

You're not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?

wow thats quite the zinger - running on empty, sweety?

[noahbody]

What did Toronto do before 1976 without the world's largest freestanding phallus?

Maybe the government should put the naming rights up for bid. Viagra might be up for it.

[noahbody]

Neo-cons in Canada have a long and dismal history of privatizing profit and socializing debt.

How about some examples to support your accusation?

[Smallc]

What did Toronto do before 1976 without the world's largest freestanding phallus?

Its there, its nice, people like it. There is no reason to tear it down or put its future in jeopardy.

[Sir Bandelot]

We should not trust the government to do whats in our best interests.

Canadians should be especially concerned because Flaherty was finance minister in Ontario when the provincial Conservative government of former premier Mike Harris sold the electronic toll Highway 407 north of Toronto for $3.1 billion in 1999.

Three years later, a private investment bank valued the property at four times the sale price.

"After three years of bad tax policy, and big spending , Flaherty has put the country in deficit. Now he wants to sell the house to pay for the groceries"

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...1114?hub=Canada

[August1991]

Of course not, you are a Harper conservative, you are an expert at squandering money.

Are you suggesting that a Harper conservative is like the Rae NDP?

Is this the new meme on the Left? That Conservatives are profligate? If so, I fully endorse the meme.

Canadians should be especially concerned because Flaherty was finance minister in Ontario when the provincial Conservative government of former premier Mike Harris sold the electronic toll Highway 407 north of Toronto for $3.1 billion in 1999.

Three years later, a private investment bank valued the property at four times the sale price.

"After three years of bad tax policy, and big spending , Flaherty has put the country in deficit. Now he wants to sell the house to pay for the groceries"

Unlike a corporation, a government's goal is not to make a profit. Governments should aim to create conditions so that private individuals prosper. If a profit can be made, the government shouldn't be involved.

Does the 407 make life better or worse?

Edited November 15, 2008 by August1991