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...