Canadian Space Agency Watch: March 2010 Archives

Readers familiar with our ongoing Canadian Space Agency Watch series know that space policy is an issue we tend to focus on. In particular the long anticipated but elusive Long-Term Space Plan (LTSP) the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has been working in since the fall of 2008. So it came as a bit of a surprise when we found out that not only had the LTSP not been submitted to the Minister of Industry and Cabinet for consideration, but that it was not yet finished.

On March 4th the federal government will release what is expected to be a frugal budget. This is in part is due to lower tax revenues. The December 2009 deficit was $3.1 billion with revenues down $19.4-billion and program expenses up $22 billion. With revenues down and the deficit climbing the government has signaled that there will be few new spending initiatives and that some cuts might be in the offing. While the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is not expected to see a significant change in its budget this coming year, it is possible that cuts are forthcoming in future budgets which were already scheduled to decline as the government reigns in spending.