Flaherty has doubts about benefits of promised income-splitting

OTTAWA - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he's not sure whether income-splitting for tax purposes will benefit society.

It's a promise the governing Conservatives made in the last election, but were unable to fulfil as they fell into a fiscal hole during the recession.

Flaherty is now projecting a $6.4 billion surplus in 2015, just in time for the next election.

But he's expressed doubts that income-splitting for families with dependents under the age of 18, expected to cost about $2.5 billion, is the right way to spend that surplus.

He says he doesn't like shiny election baubles and would personally rather use the surplus to pay down the country`s debt.

He`s also blasting the provinces and territories on job training, the latest salvo in a battle over a contentious federal program.

He says provinces are getting billions of dollars to train workers, but there's still a mismatch between the jobs that need to be filled and the skills workers have.