More tidbits from the PM's Action Plan(e) report

Some more interesting points on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's surprise in-flight update on the Economic Action Plan, courtesy of our colleague Terry Milewski, who's travelling with Harper to China:

The government says the stimulus program has given a "$62-billion shot in the arm to the economy." It also says the recession was less severe in Canada than in any other G7 country.

Simultaneously, like previous Economic Action Plan reports, this one includes a graph claiming that Canada has "one of the largest action plans" in the G7 as a percentage of GDP. It does not say why the Plan should be the richest if the problem is the smallest. The fine print confirms, though, that provincial and territorial spending is included -- but not in the figures for other countries.

The stimulus program breaks down as follows:

2009

Federal - $27.9 billion

Provincial - $8.6 billion

Total - $36.5 billion

2010

Federal - $19.3 billion

Provincial - $6.1 billion

Total - $25.4 billion

Total for the two years: $61.993 billion ($47.2 billion of it, federal)

Breakdown of programs over the 2 years:

Infrastructure: $16 billion

Support to industries and communities: $14 billion (auto sector is $9.7 billion of that)

EI: $7 billion

Tax cuts: $6.2 billion

Universities, labs, research and technology: $4 billion

Cost of those EI changes? Not clear.

On p. 25: "...to temporarily increase support to long-tenured workers with the passage of legislation to extend benefits for eligible individuals by between 5 and 20 weeks, at a projected cost of $935 million. Cheques are now being sent..."

However, a table on p.59 says:  "Extended benefits for long-tenured workers ($1.44 billion.)"

And... a table on p. 66 says something different again:  Home Improvement Tax Credit: "About 4.6 million families in Canada are expected to take advantage of the credit..."