There was also the choice to take the $13.2 billion surplus and put it, in its entirety, to paying down the debt. Compared with other G-8 countries, Canada already has a fairly aggressive debt repayment program. Canadians generally want to pay down their debts. That's sound economics.
On the other hand, Canadians don't want to do that in exclusivity, in a way that undermines their fundamental rights and freedoms, and I believe that is what this choice is doing.