Government of Canada Provides Responsible Leadership with Budget 2008

February 26, 2008

Building on the Government’s 2007 Fiscal and Economic Update, our Conservative government today tabled a balanced, focused and prudent budget to strengthen Canada and British Columbia amidst global economic uncertainty. Budget 2008 continues reducing debt and taxes, focuses government spending, and provides additional support for sectors of the economy that are struggling.

This year alone the federal government is injecting $21 billion of stimulus into the Canadian economy as a result of all of our tax relief measures. As a share of the economy this is significantly greater than the stimulus package offered by the U.S.

“Our government is taking the path that requires focus, prudence and discipline,” said the Hon. Stockwell Day, Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Coquihalla and Federal Minister of Public Safety. “This budget builds on our long-term economic plan Advantage Canada, a plan that is a realistic and responsible way forward.”

Budget 2008 also provides Canadians with the most important federally-driven personal finance innovation since the introduction of the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP): the Tax-Free Savings Account. This flexible, registered, general-purpose account will allow Canadians to watch their savings – including interest income, dividend payments and capital gains – grow tax free.

“The Tax-Free Savings Account is the first of its kind in Canadian history,” said Stockwell Day. “It will provide all Canadians with a powerful incentive to save. An RRSP is primarily intended for retirement, but the Tax-Free Savings Account is like an RRSP for everything else in your life.”
Budget 2008 also demonstrates responsible leadership by:

• Paying down debt. Since taking office, the Government has paid down more than $37 billion on our “national mortgage”, including $10.2 billion this fiscal year. The Government’s aggressive pay down of debt has saved Canadians $2 billion in ongoing interest savings a year, which has been passed on to Canadians in tax relief through the Government’s Tax Back Guarantee.
  

• Strengthening Canada’s tax advantage. Since taking office, the Government has delivered almost $200 billion in tax relief over this and the next five years. Budget 2008 extends accelerated capital cost allowance treatment to the manufacturing and processing sector by three years on a declining basis – providing British Columbia businesses with an additional $13.3 million in tax relief.
  

• Investing in the future. We are extending the federal gas tax fund to municipalities permanently. This will provide an additional $2 billion a year, every year, forever.
  

• Targeting support. British Columbia will receive $129 million over three years through the Community Development Trust to support efforts to help vulnerable communities, particularly in the forestry sector, adjust to global economic uncertainty, $67 million over two years through the Public Transit Capital Trust 2008 which will support projects such as the Evergreen Light Rapid Transit System in Vancouver, $192 million for infrastructure initiatives, $67 million for labour market training, and $105 million as British Columbia’s share of the Clean Air and Climate Change Trust, the HPV Immunization Trust and Patient Wait Times Guarantee Trust.
  

• Providing leadership at home. We are providing $53 million to British Columbia to hire new front line police officers over the next five years. Budget 2008 also provides funding to preserve and protect the environment, to support those with mental health issues, including a pilot project in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver to help address the needs of those who are homeless and suffering from mental illness. Budget 2008 will also provide $660 million to support Aboriginal Canadians.
  

• Providing leadership abroad. We are providing the Canadian Forces with stable and predictable funding to permit long-term planning and delivering on our promises for international assistance.
  

As a result of restoring fiscal balance, British Columbia will receive $5.1 billion in 2008-09, an increase of $367 million over the previous year.

This includes $3.3 billion through the Canada Health Transfer and $1.4 billion through the Canada Social Transfer. For British Columbia, the CST payment represents an increase of $400 million, or 16 per cent, since 2005-06.

“There are challenges on the horizon,” said Stockwell Day. “Some would have us go down the path to higher spending, higher interest payments and higher taxes. That approach is misguided. Our Government is taking the path that requires focus, prudence and discipline.”