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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper is hinting that the key Conservative campaign plank from the 2011 federal election that earned him a majority may not be pitched overboard after all.

Income-splitting for couples with children under 18 was a $2.5-billion pledge during the last election — a Conservative promise that would kick in as soon as the government balanced the federal budget.

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But Finance Minister Jim Flaherty began publicly questioning the policy even before his Feb. 11 budget that effectively balanced the books this year and projected a surplus for 2015.

“I think income-splitting needs a long, hard analytical look … to see who it affects and to what degree, because I’m not sure that overall, it benefits our society,” Mr. Flaherty told the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce during a televised post-budget interview.

Under questioning in the House of Commons, Mr. Harper refused to repeat his 2011 income-splitting pledge after budget day. Government sources, meanwhile, spread word that the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister were of one mind on the matter.