Canada starts cutting taxes ahead of 2015 election

Canada on Thursday started doling out hotly-anticipated tax cuts, thanks to its first budgetary surplus since the global economic slump.
The small business tax cuts worth Can$550 million (out of a Can$276.3 billion budget), said Finance Minister Joe Oliver, aim to give companies fresh incentives to hire new employees.
"Canada has become an economic success story, but the global economy is fragile and there are geopolitical tensions," he said.
"Therefore, we must continue taking action, as we have today, to create jobs, growth and long-term prosperity."
Canada had seen a decade of budgetary surpluses before the ruling Tories plunged the nation into deficit two years into its first mandate by hiking spending in order to give the economy a boost during the 2008-2009 global economic crisis.
Despite the nation's relatively strong growth of 3.1 percent, job creation has been weak.
Canada has so far has managed to gradually climb out of the red through growing tax revenues and freezing government spending.
The government announced last February it expects to return to budgetary surplus next year, which is also when elections are due to be held in Canada.