Happy Dilemma

Working out the details of his annual budget, Finance Minister Walter Harris faced a pleasant problem: how best in an election year to whittle down a towering ($282 million) surplus. In the House of Commons last week, Harris produced his solution. By eliminating some nuisance taxes and easing the rules on income-tax deductions, he will cut receipts next year by an estimated $55 million. Spending will be increased for such items as old-age pensions and mothers' allowances (Canada's famed "Baby Bonus") to help slim down next year's surplus to $152 million.

Harris estimated that the gross national product will rise by $1.6 billion to a record $31.4 billion. From this wellspring of wealth, the government will dip $5,170,000,000, spend $5,018,000,000.

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