Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered a budget today

• The budget has a $2.9-billion deficit and a $3-billion contingency fund.
• The government say it will balance the budget next year.
• The budget proposes to make retired federal public servants pay half the costs of their health-care plan, up from a quarter now. This would raise annual payments for a retired individual to $550 from $261.
• Adopting families will get a larger tax break for expenses.
• Higher taxes on tobacco will hike the price of a carton of 200 cigarettes by $4 and essentially end the discount on smokes sold at duty-free stores, by raising taxes there by $6 a carton. The increase will reap government $685 million this fiscal year..
• The government plans to bring in legislation to deal with unjustified cross-border price discrimination that sees Canadians pay more for goods.
• Search and rescue volunteers will get a tax credit similar to the one extended to volunteer firefighters in 2011.
• Taxpayers will no longer have to apply for a GST-HST credit on their tax return. The Canada Revenue Agency will make the calculation automatically.