There is a cost to austerity for the pupose of balancing ones budget

Harper government left $97M unspent on social services, report shows

The Harper government's promises to help jobless youth, the disabled, immigrants and illiterate adults fell short last year by almost $100 million.

 

That's the amount of so-called "lapsed" funding — money promised but never spent — at Canada's biggest social services department, Employment and Social Development Canada.

An internal report shows that in 2013-14, the department fell short by $97.1 million of its promised dollars for 16 major programs, the largest such lapse in any of the five years since the 2008 economic meltdown.

The biggest shortfall, $30 million, was for the government's touted Youth Employment Strategy, or about 17 per cent of the strategy's total budget for that year. The program is meant to help reduce the youth jobless rate of about 13 per cent.

Disabled, literacy funds unused

An opportunities fund for the disabled failed to receive about a quarter of its $38.8-million budget. A literacy program underspent a third of its $21-million budget.

READ MORE: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/harper-government-left-97m-unspent-090000927.html