Federal Budget and Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Income-splitting for couples with children under 18 was a multibillion-dollar pledge during the last election -- a Conservative promise that would kick in as soon as the government balanced the federal budget, according to CTV. "I think income-splitting needs a long, hard analytical look ... to see who it affects and to what degree, because I'm not sure that overall, it benefits our society," Flaherty told the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce during a televised post-budget interview and - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is hinting that the key Conservative campaign plank from the 2011 federal election that earned him a majority may not be pitched overboard after all. But Finance Minister Jim Flaherty began publicly questioning the policy even before his Feb. 11 budget that effectively balanced the books this year and projected a surplus for 2015. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.