Federal finance minister Jim Flaherty today outlined his government’s priorities for its first budget, including promised tax cuts and balanced budgets.

Speaking to the Whitby Chamber of Commerce in Whitby, Ont. Flaherty pledged that the first 1% cut to the GST, will, “be front and centre when Parliament resumes this spring”.

“Of course, it’s not the only tax relief taxpayers will see. We also want to lighten the tax burden for business people,” he noted. “During the election we campaigned on reducing corporate taxes and following through on eliminating the federal capital tax. Rewarding Canadians, in other words, who reinvest their money and create jobs. Rest assured we will move forward on this as soon as we can.” He also noted that the federal government will lower small business taxes and create a tax incentive to hire new apprentices in industries that need them.

However, he didn’t mention whether it plans to follow through on its pledge to provide some relief on capital gains tax, as the Tories promised in their election platform.

Flaherty did stress that he “strongly believes” that balanced budgets and paying off debt are essential to our nation’s success. “They are not something to be bargained away during budget deliberations,” he said.

He pledged to try to keep a lid on federal spending, “our government fully intends to limit future growth in spending to more reasonable levels. In fact, our government has made a commitment to limit future growth on federal grant and contribution programs and within federal departments and agencies to the rate of inflation plus population growth.”

Flaherty noted that the government has begun discussions with the provinces and territories to try to find a long-term solution to the fiscal imbalance issue. Although, he added, “The issue didn’t emerge overnight, and will not be resolved overnight. However, the goal will be a comprehensive arrangement that will permanently address the fiscal imbalance.”