OP-ED Piece: Budget 2007 – Getting things done for Canadians

April 20, 2007

as published in Niagara This Week

On March 19, my colleague and Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, delivered a budget for all Canadians.

Budget 2007 strikes the right balance by making our strong Canadian economy even stronger, and by providing the necessary tools so that Canadians from all walks of life can achieve their full potential.

Delivering Tax Relief to Canadians

Since coming into office, this Government has introduced nearly $38 billion in individual tax relief for hard-working Canadians over this and the next two fiscal years.

This includes reducing the GST to 6 per cent, Universal Child Care Benefit cheques of $100 per month for each child under six, tax credits for children’s fitness, and much needed assistance for seniors, students, apprentices, and children with severe disabilities.

Canada’s New Government is continuing to cut taxes for working families and invest in important priorities for Canadians, such as health care and the environment.

Budget 2007 provides $5.7 billion in relief for families and individuals, including:

o A new $2,000 Child Tax Credit amount for every child under 18, providing $1.5 billion in new tax relief to families;

o $550 million for the Working Income Tax Benefit for low-income Canadians;

o A new long-term savings plan for parents of children with severe disabilities;

o Eliminating the $4,000 limit on annual RESP contributions, and increasing the lifetime limit on RESP contributions to $50,000 from $42,000;

o More flexibility for phased retirement; and

o Fairness for single-earners by ending the marriage penalty - $270 million in new tax relief.

Cleaning up our Great Lakes

As residents of the Niagara Region, we are reminded of the daily beauty and wealth the Great Lakes offer our local environment.

Containing 20 per cent of the world’s surface freshwater supplies and 80 per cent of the lake and river water in North America, it would be an understatement to say the Great Lakes are one of the world’s most important freshwater resources. In fact, forty million people in Canada and the U.S. rely directly on the Great Lakes drainage basin as a source of drinking water.

Past industrial practices have degraded areas in the Great Lakes and have created lake-wide effects on water quality.

Our Government is allocating $11 million over the next two years to clean up contaminated sediment that poses a risk to human health and ecosystems in eight areas of concern, including our Niagara River.

Budget 2007 successfully accomplishes what the previous Liberal governments failed to do in 13 years – delivering to hard working Canadians and businesses while continuing to cut taxes, control spending and pay down the debt.

This Government will continue to demonstrate strong fiscal management while investing in the priorities of Canadians, so we can reach our ultimate goal for a stronger, safer and better Canada.

For more information on Budget 2007, please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can be of further assistance.

Online copies of Budget 2007 are available on the Internet at: http://www.budget.gc.ca/2007/index.html