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NDP Leader Gary Burrill called the budget a "surplus of words." In particular, Burrill was critical of the lack of help for post secondary students and said the government should have moved as New Brunswick did last week to provide more up-front financial assistance. When asked why there had been such a significant swing from deficit projections in December, when Delorey blamed softened government revenues on a drop in tax revenue and offshore royalties, the minister said it was because of a combination of things including more tax information from the federal government.

Revenue did soften within departments," he said. "What you will also see though is that through the decisions we made and good management we have reduced our expenses more than the revenue has softened, which has enabled us to improve our position." The budget promises include modest amounts for a series of spending initiatives, many of which were previously announced, while continuing promised multi-year spending in education.

There is $6.6 million to improve a childcare system which a recent report said employs the lowest paid early childhood educators in Canada. The government says the money would be used to improve wages and subsidies to parents, although the amount of the increases won't be released until Education Minister Karen Casey gives her official response to her department's report within the next week. Delorey didn't reveal any details either, but did say the funding would push pay for daycare workers "closer to the national average."

CUPE Nova Scotia president Dianne Frittenburg said the overall funding figure falls short of what workers in the sector expect. She compared the figure to the $10.2 million included to refloat the ferry from Yarmouth, N.S., to Portland, Maine. "I'm not saying the Yarmouth ferry isn't important but it (early childhood education) should have equal footing," said Frittenburg. In a completely new measure, the budget allocates $7.5 million towards increasing income assistance by $20 a month beginning May 1 for up to 25,000 eligible people.

Other spending measures include $3.6 million to help children with autism access specialized therapy and a 25 per cent refundable food bank tax credit for farmers that will cost $300,000. Education will get $21 million as part of a four-year $65 million government pledge. The money includes $6.4 million to cap class sizes up to Grade 6 and $7.5 million to help improve literacy and math skills.

The only tax increase in the budget hits smokers, with cigarettes going up two cents each or 50 cents a pack and the tax rate on cigars going up by four per cent at midnight. The moves are expected to bring $15.8 million to provincial coffers. Health spending, at $4.1 billion, takes up 40 per cent of the overall budget. It includes $14.4 million for home care, including home support and nursing. As previously announced there is $3.7 million earmarked for the redesign of the decrepit Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, but no money to replace it.

However, in an accounting measure, the government said it was taking a one-time $110 million payment from Ottawa and the Halifax Regional Municipality for the city's new convention centre and applying it to the debt.

Officials said the payment on the debt would free up money in the future to launch a multi-year redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre.

HALIFAXHighlights of the Nova Scotia budget introduced Tuesday: ° Surplus of $17.1 million is projected on a spending program of about $10 billion. ° Net debt of $15.2 billion in 2016-17. ° Budget provides $6.6 million for childcare with money to increase the parent subsidy and to increase wages for early childhood educators. ° Education will get $21 million, with $6.4 million going toward class cap sizes extended up to Grade 6 and $7.5 million to help improve literacy and math skills. ° There will be $7.5 million for boosting income assistance by $20 a month for people eligible. ° Tobacco tax increased by two cents a cigarette or 50 cents a pack, $4 dollars per carton. ° Government will introduce a new 25 per cent refundable food bank tax credit for farmers at a cost of $300,000. ° $3.6 million for the Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention Program to ensure children with autism access a specialized therapy.

In dollar terms, the size of all of that post-recession debt is staggering. Some fear that when interest rates return to normal, governments will face crippling debt-servicing costs. But the scope of the problem is a matter of significant debate in policy circles. Experts do agree that whether or not government debt is a serious problem depends on where you live. Government books in Western Canada are relatively healthy. East of Manitoba however, debt is already forcing hard choices. Political debate over government finances is typically focused on the annual bottom line, which shows whether there is a annual surplus or a deficit.

Economists say the often overlooked - but far more important figure - is the size of government debt in relation to the size of the economy. As a percentage of gross domestic product, the net debt of all provinces and territories has grown to 28.6 per cent in 201314 from 20.5 per cent in 2007-08. The federal debt grew to a peak of 33.3 per cent in 2012-13 from 29.2 per cent in 2007-08. That's nowhere near the 67.1 per cent debt levels reached by Ottawa in 1995-96, when The Wall Street Journal warned that Canada was at risk of hitting the "debt wall." The size of the federal debt has already started to decline, reaching 32.3 per cent in 2013-14. The 2015 budget forecast that the federal debt-to-GDP ratio will reach prerecession levels by 2017 and decline further to 25 per cent by 2021. The debt picture among the provinces varies dramatically.

Alberta and Saskatchewan are currently facing hard times owing to low oil prices, but they are the darlings of Confederation when it comes to low debt. Alberta had no debt at all as of last year. The real debt troubles can be found in Central and Atlantic Canada. Quebec's net debt is the largest, at 50 per cent of GDP, followed by Ontario, at 38.4 per cent, and Nova Scotia at 37.7 per cent, using figures for 201314. While Quebec announced a balanced budget this year, Ontario's deficit was up slightly to $10.9-billion last year. Ontario insists the deficit will be erased by 2017-18.

Provincial governments are responsible for programs such as education and health care that can affect people more directly than federal programs. Spending restraint is easier said than done. The 2015 budget season has coincided with student protests in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, while Ontario is dealing with labour unrest from teachers' unions. Many provinces have also been negatively affected by a recent change to the federal health-transfers formula. The move to per-capita funding won out over arguments that the average age of provincial populations should be factored into the equation. Some of the most indebted provinces also face the most challenging demographics, with a shrinking ratio of younger workers to cover the costs of growing numbers of older citizens. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has said that while federal finances are sustainable over the long term, the provinces are facing structural shortfalls that will demand spending cuts, higher taxes or both. University of New Brunswick economics professor David Murrell said the return to surpluses in Ottawa will likely rekindle pressure from the provinces for more generous transfers. Shrinking deficits, growing debt

Provincial finance ministers are quick to pat themselves on the back over shrinking deficits and balanced budgets, but economists urge Canadians to view these claims with a bit of skepticism. Accounting methods vary across the country, making comparisons difficult. Unlike the federal government, provinces generally present two sets of books: an operational budget and a capital budget. Boasts of balanced budgets are in reference to operational spending. A province's overall debt could still be rising on the capital side even though the government is in an operational surplus. Supporters of this accounting method - including Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi - argue that it separates good debt from bad debt: Using debt to build public assets such as roads and bridges is better than slipping into the red to pay for public service salaries and other operational costs.

Critics such as tax-policy expert Jack Mintz have warned this approach allows provinces to play "hide the deficit." Charles Lammam, director of fiscal studies with the Fraser Institute, a conservative think tank that regularly warns about the dangers of mounting government debt, agrees that claims of improving budget balances can be misleading. "This is a real problem in places like British Columbia and Ontario," he said. "It doesn't seem like the growth in government debt will let up." Mr. Lammam's research found that Canadian governments - including municipalities - spend more than $60-billion a year servicing debt, which is about the same as the entire cost of providing primary and secondary education across the country. Ontario's recent budget said a one-point increase in interest rates would cost the government $400-million. "There's a real risk that provinces like Ontario, provinces like Quebec, can be subject to this very negative situation where they're paying even more to service their outstanding debt," he said. The new debt debate

That did little to quell critics who said the NDP has given up even the pretense of trying to rein in spending. Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister said the government could have balanced the books this year if it had "just held the line on spending." "They are making promises with money they are taking from our children and grandchildren here," the Opposition leader said. "It took 109 years for us as a province to get about $18-billion into debt. It's taken six for the premier and the NDP to double that debt. Somebody's got to pay that back." Todd MacKay, prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the "overwhelmingly irresponsible budget" shows the New Democrats have a spending problem. "They promised to have this budget balanced. Instead, the deficit is going up," he said.

"Future generations are going to pay for this budget. It's completely irresponsible." The infrastructure spending wasn't enough to win over others. Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said it will do little to help the province's largest city. "We need new money. The model is ... fundamentally broken in terms of how we fund our cities," he said. "We have an obligation to fix it." The NDP tries to leave behind internal turmoil that led to a leadership race in March which Mr. Selinger won by 33 votes. The Premier's top five cabinet ministers resigned last year after calling for him to step down in light of plummeting opinion polls following the provincial sales-tax increase. "The government has obviously been preoccupied with something else over the past eight months and has not been focused on governing," said Chuck Davidson, president of the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce. "This was a great opportunity to at least get us on a path ... to getting our economic house in order. They missed the mark."

Sousa reckons that Ontario is coming out of the economic slump. Progress is slow and uneven. But the government estimates, with some justification, that matters are beginning to look up, that more people are being employed and that government tax receipts will therefore rise. The reasons are well-known. The oil price slump may be bad news for Alberta. But it's good news for the consumers and manufacturers of this province. More important, the U.S. economy is on the rebound - which helps Ontario exporters. And finally the dollar has slipped. That's tough for those buying, say, Florida oranges. But again it's good news for Ontario manufacturers, who now have a built-in price advantage in the U.S. market. Interestingly, Sousa's budget shows that the growth-driven gains in tax revenues will contribute far more to the elimination of the province's deficit than either spending cuts or asset sales. Which suggests two things: First, budgets do often balance themselves - when the business cycle picks up. Sousa calculates that Ontario will reap

$10 billion in new revenue over the next two years, more than enough to eliminate the current $8.5-billion deficit. Second, many of the other things the Wynne government has done to balance the books may not have been necessary. Which is the confusing part of this budget. Why is Wynne's government going out of its way to cause itself to political grief? Exhibit A: the proposal to sell to private investors 60 per cent of Hydro One, the publicly owned electricity transmission utility. After paying off Hydro One's debts, the province expects to net $4 billion from the sale. The government says it wants to use the proceeds to build transit infrastructure over the next 10 years. But by selling a chunk of the electricity monopoly, Queen's Park is also giving up close to $5 billion in guaranteed revenue over the next 10 years. It would be cheaper to hold onto

100 per cent of Hydro One and use the utility's profits to fund infrastructure. In a press conference Thursday, a jovial Sousa was asked about Hydro One. In effect, he answered that selling most the utility was a good deal for the government. He didn't really explain why. Other matters mentioned in, but not seriously addressed by, the budget include Wynne's decision to fight climate change through a so-called cap-and-trade system, her proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and the Liberal promise to cut auto insurance premiums by 15 per cent. On cap-and-trade, the budget confirmed that crucial details have not yet been decided. On pensions, it revealed that the government has talked to a lot of people and heard a lot of different things. Auto insurance? Two years ago, the insurers grudgingly agreed to cut rates, but only if they were allowed to provide accident victims with fewer benefits. The government was fine with this. According to the budget, it still is.

In a prebudget letter to Mr. Oliver, the NDP urges the Finance Minister not to delay the budget and to instead scrap the recent tax cut that allows parents with children under 18 to split their income for tax purposes. The NDP says Ottawa should cut spending on advertising, the Senate and corporate subsidies. The letter calls for more spending on health care, child care and pensions and the creation of a credit for small businesses that make new hires.

The government says it is taking a few extra weeks to release a budget in order to get a better understanding of the current changes in the economy. The price of oil has dropped by more than half since June, a development that will mean billions less in tax revenue for Ottawa than had been previously expected.

Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney is also pledging that Ottawa can hit its target without dipping into a $3-billion contingency fund, a comment that is at odds with recent statements from Finance Minister Joe Oliver, as well as analysis from several private-sector economists. The messaging from the government is shifting quickly in the face of growing signs that current, dramatically lower oil prices will be around for some time. The Bank of Canada will release its quarterly Monetary Policy Report on Wednesday, which is expected to expand on recent warnings that prices could go lower, or remain low, "for a significant period." In a series of interviews broadcast over the weekend, Mr. Kenney said balancing the books has important symbolic value and that "it may take some additional spending restraint" in order for the government to deliver on its promise.

The 2014 federal budget reintroduced a two-year freeze on departmental operating budgets that runs through the 2015-16 fiscal year, which is when the Conservatives are promising a return to balance. The 2014 budget said this freeze would save the government $550-million in 2014-15 and $1.1-billion in 2015-16. Mr. Kenney did not explain how extending the freeze might help the government achieve its balanced-budget promise. "They spent the surplus before they had it and now they're scrambling to figure out how to make one plus one equal three," said NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen.

Economists say it makes no practical difference whether Ottawa posts a small surplus or a small deficit, given that federal finances are sound overall in terms of debt levels and longterm spending trends. But Mr. Kenney said balancing the books remains an important goal. "It's a commitment we made to Canadians in the last election," he told CTV. "It's important that, when possible, we no longer go back and borrow money to pay for government spending."

Both leaders are opposed to them, and are promising balanced budgets if elected. But when asked about deficits, separately, on the campaign trail Wednesday, they gave strikingly similar answers. Harper and Mulcair both agreed on the need for stimulus following the Great Recession of 2008-09.

"Back in 2008-2009, we faced two circumstances we do not face today, both of them are important," Harper said in North Bay, Ont., citing the drop in global output and the breakdown in the financial system. "We are nowhere near those kinds of circumstances today," he added. "I do not believe you would run a deficit on purpose if the economy is actually showing growth. Our economy will grow this year and that is why we will keep the budget in balance."

"Confident, optimistic countries are always willing to invest in their own future rather than believe that cutting is somehow the path to growth and success." Harper and Mulcair disagreed, while still taking shots at each other.

"They want to cut programs and they hope in vain that the same plan that has been in place for the last 10 years will still work and will kick-start the economy," he said in Trois-Rivieres, Que. But the Liberal leader was also forced the defend the budget-cutting that his party undertook in the 1990s when Paul Martin served as former prime minister Jean Chretien's finance minister. Martin made the right decision when he cut provincial transfer payments back then because the Conservatives left the country's books in bad shape, Trudeau said.

"Right now, we have a very different situation where for 10 years, even though we have a very good debt-to-GDP ratio, we can't seem to create growth," Trudeau said. Trudeau said only his plan to run deficits to 2019 and increase infrastructure spending will spur real growth in a slackening economy. "Mr. Harper doesn't understand that in order to grow the economy in the 21st century we need to invest in people and give them the tools they need to succeed," he said.

Speaking in Kamloops, B.C., Mulcair said: "We might recall back in 2008 when the worst financial crisis since the 1920s hit, it was obvious then that it was such a true head-on hit to the economy that spending was required and that's what was done." As for the current situation, Mulcair said: "Right now, we are in a recession that's been measured according to the definition accepted here, which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth." Trudeau, meanwhile, said Harper and Mulcair share the same future decision if they have any chance of honouring their balanced budget promises -- budget cuts.

"Proposing a deficit right now with economic growth is a recipe for permanent deficits," Harper said. "It's why we're not going to do it and why I think the country will reject that proposal from the other parties." Mulcair reiterated that the NDP will be able to deliver on its various spending promises by cutting some Conservative initiatives. "We have a plan for investing in infrastructure and housing, but it's all done within the framework of a balanced budget," he said. "Tommy Douglas balanced the budget 17 times in Saskatchewan and still brought in medicare in Canada for the first time."

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair plays street hockey during a federal election campaign stop in Kamloops, B.C.

This federal budget also cut Health Canada funding by 6.4 percent

The immediate federal cuts are already taking a toll on women’s and Aboriginal health groups.

One week after the Senate committee reviewing the health accord called for stronger federal leadership and new pan-Canadian programs (pharmacare and continuing care), the budget shows a federal government in retreat.

We need the federal government to negotiate with the provinces a new ten year health accord that will protect, strengthen and expand Medicare.

For more details on these recommendations and why they’re needed, see CUPE’s report on the health accord.

Support public health care: sign the Call to Care!

We can predict that beds and services will close as a result of funding cuts of this magnitude. Access problems will intensify and quality of care will deteriorate further. Women and the elderly will be hit hardest. The hospital staff that we represent will plan a stiff resistance, including demonstrations, rallies, lobbying, advertising and public engagement,” said Hurley.

Ontario’s Liberals dropped the corporate income tax rate to one of the lowest in North America, and economists estimate that the province has lost nearly $20 billion in revenue. This drop in tax revenue triggered austerity in provincial expenditures including a 5-year funding freeze for Ontario hospitals, already the worst funded per capita in Canada. “ Ontario’s hospitals are the least expensive and most efficient in the country and they are starved of operating revenue. It’s time for the provincial government to reverse the deep cuts it has made in hospital budgets in Ontario. The announcement of budget cuts of $20,000,000 to hospitals in the South East LHIN is surely an indicator of how bad the situation has become,“ said Hurley.

When it comes to what Canadians care about, one thing keeps topping the list: their health.In fact, in an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News before last week’s federal budget, Canadians ranked spending more on health care as their top priority out of 15 choices.

“We have seniors being kept in hospital beds simply because we do not have the resources to care for them in our communities,” NDP health critic Don Davies said in question period Thursday. “Why are Liberals abandoning their promise to invest in home care when this money is so badly needed?”

Health Minister Jane Philpott insisted the money is still on the table and she’s working towards an agreement with her provincial and territorial counterparts.

The budget also doesn’t reverse cuts to federal transfers planned under the Harper government.

While government has said the area isn't losing beds as a result of the changes, Sugden said the beds being designated as ALC beds take away from acute care.

Reducing hours at community health centres and having select centres close for five non-consecutive days in the coming months are initiatives Horizon has also undertaken.They also trimmed $1 million from the renovation budget and made cuts to education and minor equipment to save $300,000.

Some of Vitalité Health Network other cost-cutting measures:* Implementation of re-sterilization of some instruments in the surgical suites;* Improved use of on-call physician fees;* Improved use of the budgets allocated to sitters;* Optimization of resources and standardization of procedures in the laboratories;* Plan to improve employee attendance and reduce overtime;* Increased efficiency of therapeutic space utilization;* Reduction in renovation budgets;* A10 per cent reduction in budgets for employee training and small equipment purchases;* Reduction in travel expenses through video and audio conferencing; and* Promotion of self-funded leave of absence.

Canute, seated at the sea's edge, was making a witty point to flattering courtiers, showing he could do nothing at all to prevent the waters from rising. One might well gain the impression, however, that our present rulers are responsible for making the waters ebb and flow. Take that Economic Action Plan. We taxpayers have forked over well above $100 million just for ads touting the wing of bat and eye of newt that were supposed to work their magic for us and, of course, for the Harper administration as well. But the economy is presently on a serious downturn, largely thanks to the recent precipitous drop in the price of oil, and in the value of our loonie. We shouldn't blame Harper for all that, of course, even if his emphasis on oilsands development has made us somewhat vulnerable to this sort of thing. But let's be consistent. Why should he then reap unqualified praise when the economy is doing well? Not that our leaders are completely helpless, of course. Within limits, they can moderate the harmful effects of downturns, if they so choose. The question really becomes, whose harm should they address? That's what these federal budgets are all about. They aren't mere balance-sheets, but a statement of values and priorities. And here there are real choices to be made.

Reflecting those conflicting moral options, some think-tanks have demanded low corporate taxes, to improve profit margins and encourage investment. Others, currently being audited by the Canada Revenue Agency, want taxes to rise, to pay for quality public services such as food inspection and post-Lac-Mégantic rail safety and a national child care program and the increased demands upon medicare and Canada Pension Plan reform. It's fair to say that this government has chosen its path, and it's not one leading to the door of that "ordinary Canadian." The new budget maintains that direction.

It's a pre-election document, with the flash and dazzle of deficit elimination. But to accomplish that, the government announced spending that won't come fully into force for years, and also made off with two-thirds of the contingency fund - intended for real national emergencies, not political manoeuvring. The much-ballyhooed family income-splitting measure, already making its way through Parliament, stands to benefit the very richest 15 per cent of Canadian families. Now the Tax-Free Savings Account will have the maximum contribution nearly doubled, to $10,000 per year - once again disproportionately benefiting the well-to-do who can afford such contributions, while costing the government billions in revenue losses. Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, we've seen fewer unemployed workers than ever before able to qualify for employment insurance benefits. There is nothing in the budget to remedy this, and no serious job-creation measures to ease unemployment.

Given the current poor health of the economy, the burden of inequality continues to be borne by those Canadians least able to withstand it. The budget, like its predecessors, doesn't even pretend to address that fundamental issue. The "ordinary Canadian," once again, has been left on the sidelines. Nothing new here: move along. John Baglow is an Ottawa writer, researcher and consultant.

However, since then Mulcair has said little about that promise while he's added a number of others - including a $5-billion national childcare program - that would apparently take priority. Pressed on the health transfer issue Thursday during a campaign stop in Toronto, Mulcair said it now appears the budget surpluses on which he based his promise won't materialize.

Still, he said there are two years before the scheduled reduction in transfers start so there's still time. "We had said that any surplus, because Mr. Harper had been promising surpluses, would be dedicated in our case first and foremost to avoiding that (transfer reduction)," Mulcair said at the campaign office of his star candidate Andrew Thomson, a former Saskatchewan finance minister. "Now it looks pretty obvious that there won't be any, but during that two-year period our health minister will have as a top priority to get new health accords."

He added the NDP's health care priorities will include home care and pharmacare. Conservative spokesman Stephen Lecce said their government "significantly increased" health spending. "Under Prime Minister Harper, our government is delivering the highest health transfers in Canadian history - reaching $40 billion annually by the end of the decade," he said. Based on Bank of Canada projections, the parliamentary budget office has said the federal government is likely headed for a $1-billion shortfall in 2015-16, despite a projected surplus in the 2015 budget.

Nevertheless, Mulcair has been adamant this week that his first budget next year would be balanced and he's said he believes subsequent budgets would be balanced too. He has not addressed how or if he would find a surplus to funnel into health transfers while honouring all his other campaign commitments.

Mulcair said Thursday he'll pay for NDP promises by eliminating Harper's $2-billion income-splitting plan, wasteful government advertising, the Senate, subsidies to oil companies and court battles with First Nations.

Paul Brunet, president of the Conseil pour la protection des malades, expressed concern about the potential unintended consequences of the government's costcutting measures. "Oh yeah, certainly patient care will suffer," Brunet said. "Longterm care facilities are going to take most of the hit. We know that." Some institutions, however, have signalled to the government that they won't cut the number of medical tests. "At this stage, it's out of the question to re-evaluate the pertinence of medical tests for patients," said Joëlle Lachapelle, a spokesperson for the Centre hospitalier de l'université de Montreal.

(A standard complete blood count test, for example, costs a hospital $5.77, while a private clinic will charge more than $60 for it. Private insurance would cover most, if not all, of the latter fee.) The CHUM must cut $15.4 million in its 2015-2016 budget, and of that sum, $11.3 million is supposed to come from an optimization measure called "pertinence of care and physical health services." Lachapelle said the CHUM will focus on reducing overtime rather than cutting the number of tests and procedures. Joanne Beauvais, Barrette's press attaché, denied that the government is pressuring hospitals to cut patient care.

"We are not cutting funding for care, but implementing measures to help clinical professionals provide better care by foregoing tests and procedures that are expensive and shown not to result in either improved recovery or better diagnostics," Beauvais responded in an email. "We expect the progress we will be making over the next year to yield recurrent savings of $150 million." The $583 million in "optimization" savings breaks down as follows Cutting $220 million in payroll costs by abolishing 1,300 management positions. Avoiding "unnecessary" (Beauvais's word) tests and procedures, saving $150 million. Not funding leap year day: $64 million.

Persuading hospitals to team up in buying goods and services to save $35 million. Additional "compressions" that are unspecified: $114 million. The CHUM will have to cut through attrition 15 managers out of 337. The MUHC, in contrast, will have to cut more than 100 managers out of 459. A cloud of fear and anxiety has descended over the managerial ranks at both the CHUM and MUHC. Ian Popple, a spokesperson for the MUHC, said the reduction in the number of managers will be carried out over three years. "Part of the reduction will be done by attrition as managers leave or retire," he explained. "Other reductions will have to occur by transforming some manager positions into professional-level positions (that pay less) in order to meet the ministry target. We are looking at every option, but there remains a shortfall that is requiring ongoing work to address."

Beauvais dismissed the notion that the government is actually making cuts: "These are not cuts. Quebec cannot afford the kind of growth rate in health-care spending we experienced over the past decades, and the system is clearly able to do more with less. The best-performing teams in the network prove it. Since the health-care budget keeps growing, those measures are not cuts. They are a strong inducement to everyone in the system to improve their game." Quebec has budgeted $32.8 billion this fiscal year on health care, an increase of 1.4 per cent, but less than the 5-per-cent annual hikes of previous years. aderfel@montrealgazette.com twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel

The McGill University Health Centre has not yet figured out where it will have to cut to make up the $2.5-million leap-year day shortfall. • VINCENZO D'ALTO, MONTREAL GAZETTE FILES / Of all the "optimization measures" that Quebec is imposing, the most controversial is compelling doctors to stop ordering tests that the government is now considering "unnecessary."