The Parliamentary Budget Office now reports that the Conservative government's planned purchase of 65 new F-35 stealth fighter jets will cost Canadian taxpayers 30 billion dollars. That's almost twice what the government first reported.
Thirty billion dollars is almost $1,000 for every adult and child in Canada. It is more than the total federal spending on health care.
This, plus the vast sums of new money that Harper plans to spend on prison-building and staffing, shows a stunning disregard for what most Canadians value as appropriate uses of their hard-earned tax dollars.
Opposition parties are right to reject this self-serving Harper budget.
Jack Thornburgh,
North Saanich