Ottawa is proposing to put a cheque in the mail for every Canadian taxpayer, each year the government posts a larger-than-expected surplus.

Sources told the Canadian Press on Wednesday that the federal government's proposed Surplus Allocation Act would send taxpayers a slice of the surplus along with their income-tax returns.

The legislation is expected to be tabled Friday, and will outline a spending plan for the surpluses that Ottawa frequently racks up.

In what's known as the "one-third, one-third, one-third" plan in government inner circles: one-third of all unexpected surpluses will go to debt relief; one-third to program spending; and one-third to taxpayers.

In an interview with CTV's Mike Duffy, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale wouldn't categorically confirm the proposed bill. But he said when Canadians were asked in market research surveys what they would do with the government surplus, a "vast majority" responded in kind to what the government is proposing.

Goodale called the plan a "balanced approach" to fiscal governance which has served the government and Canadians "remarkably well."

It is unclear whether the legislation will get through Parliament before an election, expected within several months.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation called the plan a pre-election gimmick.

"It smells fishy,'' federation head John Williamson told Canada AM.

"I am normally quick to applaud any idea that is going to put money back in the pockets of taxpayers, but there are so many loopholes in this plan that I would wager that at the end of the day, taxpayers aren't going to see much out of this plan because it's contingent on federal politicians keeping spending down."

Conservative finance critic Monte Solberg told CTV Newsnet that the proposal is merely a Liberal ploy to buy Canadians' loyalty, and asked why the plan wasn't included in Goodale's February budget.

"They're bringing in all kinds of new measures that were not in the budget, and I would argue that this completely undermines Ralph Goodale's credibility," said Solberg. "There's been absolutely no discussion about this in parliament."

NDP finance critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis echoed Solberg's ridicule of the plan, saying it "looks like peanuts."

"It's not even enough to buy a cup of coffee every week," she told CTV Newsnet. "I think we've got to look at the real motive of the Liberals, which is a pretty transparent way of buying Canadians' loyalty back and get ready for the next election."

For his part, Goodale said he's simply "delivering on the things I discussed with Canadians through the summer."

For those who owe the government money at year's end, the plan proposes that the surplus bonus will be deducted from what they owe. For those slated to get money back, the bonus would be added to the cheques.

Since balancing the budget in 1997-1998, the government has consistently and drastically underestimated its surpluses.
In 2002-2003, Ottawa estimated a $3-billion surplus, which ended up at $9.1 billion.

If the proposed formula were to be applied to that surplus, the extra $6.1 billion would have been divided three ways, with $2 billion going to taxpayers, providing cheques averaging $133 each for Canada's 15 million taxpayers (depending on their tax brackets).