The 2011 Federal Budget was reintroduced and accepted on June 6 in the House of Commons by a new Saskatchewan Speaker of the House. Regina-Qu'Appelle MP Andrew Scheer was elected as the youngest ever speaker in the House, presiding over the Throne Speech and the post-election budget as his first order of business.
Souris-Moose Mountain MP Ed Komarnicki made an announcement concerning funding received from the Canada Summer Jobs Program and the New Horizons for Seniors Program, outlined in the 2011 Federal Budget.
"The Government of Canada is committed to helping youth find employment and gain the skills and experience they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow," said Komarnicki. "That is why the Government is permanently increasing the budget for the Canada Summer Jobs program by $10 million. This new funding alone will create as many as 3,500 additional jobs for students in the summer of 2011."
"In Souris-Moose Mountain this means over $220,000 dedicated to student summer jobs this year."
Some communities in the area that have benefited from the program are Carlyle, Arcola, Stoughton, Weyburn, Milestone, Oungre, Radville, Pangman, Ogema, and Minton.
Komarnicki mentioned that the Government is also providing for seniors under the New Horizons for Seniors Program. Some of the organizations that have benefited from the program are Carlyle Happy Gang, Midale 39'ers Seniors Club, Stoughton Drop-In Centre, and the Yellow Grass Golden Harvest Club.
"The total program allocations are over $158,000 and are to be used for things like facility renovations, equipment replacement and general improvements," said Komarnicki. "The program is very popular and certainly helps in keeping senior's centres functional."
Komarnicki said he encourages senior centres to apply for the funding and hopes to visit some of the centres to view the improvements first-hand.
Other highlights of the 2011 Budget included: a return to a balanced budget by 2014-15; enhancing the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for seniors by up to $600peryear for single seniors and $840 for couples; attracting more health care workers to underserved rural and remote communities by forgiving up to $40,000 of Canada Student Loans for new familyphysicians and up to $20,000 for nurses; a new $2,000Family Caregiver Tax Credit amount that will provide tax relief to caregivers of infirm dependent relatives including, for the first time, spouses, common-law partners and minor children; a new Children's Arts Tax Credit of up to $500perchild; a $3,000Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit for those who perform at least 200hours of service; and providing nearly $870million over twoyears to address climate change and air quality, including the extension of the ecoENERGY Retrofit Homes program.
The Government also made a commitment to introduce legislation to: end the long-gun registry; ensure western farmers have the freedom to sell wheat and barley on the open market; and take steps to phase out direct taxpayer subsidies to federal political parties over the next three years.
