INDEPTH: BUDGET 2004
Other Issues
CBC News Online | March 23, 2004
Petro-Canada Sale
The federal government plans to sell its 19 per cent stake in Petro-Canada in the coming fiscal year, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale confirmed in his first budget.
The long-expected sale of Ottawa's remaining holding in the oil company is expected to net the government about $2 billion – with part of the money going to support investment in new environmental technologies.
The sale of Ottawa's 49.4 million shares of the company comes at a time when the federal government could use the extra money as it heads toward an election.
The timing is right because high oil prices have driven up the value of oil company stocks. Petro-Canada's stock has traded over the past year between $45.75 and a January high of $69.69. The stock closed Monday at $56.90 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The sale is also considered to be popular in the West, where the Liberals need to bolster their support.
Petro-Canada was originally owned completely by Ottawa and was intended to allow the government to monitor the oil business. Former prime minister Brian Mulroney sold off some of the stock in the early 1990s. Prime Minister Paul Martin sold about half the stock in 1995, when he was finance minister.
Military
Ottawa will spend over $300 million over the next two years on military operations in Afghanistan and Haiti, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said Tuesday.
About $250 million over the next two years will go to Canada's role in Afghanistan, while $50 million is earmarked for the country's participation in the United Nation's multinational force in Haiti.
Goodale also announced that Canadian soldiers will no longer pay income tax for those periods when they are serving on "high risk operational missions" overseas, at an estimated annual cost of $30 million.
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