It's not being met with optimism by everyone but according to Yorkton/Melville MP Garry Breitkreuz, the recently announced federal budget is a good one for Canadians and local residents.
Breitkreuz says he is pleased with the federal budget, Economic Action Plan 2014, and its focus on job creation, economic growth, and keeping taxes low - along with its plan to get back to balanced budgets by 2015.
"While Canada has the strongest job creation record among all G-7 countries, with more than 1 million net new jobs created since the depth of the global recession, too many Canadians are still looking for work," comments Breitkreuz. "That's why Economic Action Plan 2014 will continue our government's focus on creating more jobs and growing the economy in Yorkton-Melville and across the country."
According to our local MP, the NDP and Liberals had been publicly calling for the federal budget to include new tax hikes on Canadians and more deficit spending, but he says Government rejected both demands.
"Indeed, Economic Action Plan 2014 contains no new taxes on families and businesses, while also continuing to ensure government spending is as efficient and effective as possible. As we've seen in places like Greece and Detroit, not having one's fiscal house in order can lead to incredible economic instability, dramatic cuts to government programs, and higher taxes."
Economic Action Plan 2014 includes measures Breitkreuz says will support Saskatchewan families and strengthen our economy, while keeping taxes low and returning to balanced budgets in 2015, including:
Launching the Canada Job Grant: so that Canadians can get the skills training they need to get in-demand jobs.
Creating the Canada Apprentice Loan: which will provide apprentices in Red Seal trades access to over $100 million in interest-free loans each year.
Launching a Job Matching Service: this new service will automatically match Canadians looking for work with employers looking to hire them.
Increasing Paid Internships for Young Canadians: investing $55 million to create paid internships for recent graduates in small and medium-sized businesses and in high-demand fields.
Helping Older Workers Get Back to Work: investing $75 million in the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers to support older workers who want to participate in the job market.
Cutting Red Tape for Small Business: cutting 800,000 payroll remittances for 50,000 small businesses.
Making Landmark Investments in Research & Innovation: $1.5 billion over the next decade for research at universities through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
Conserving Canada's Natural Heritage: investing in Canada's national parks and historic canals, conserving recreational fisheries, expanding tax relief for the environmental conservation of lands, encouraging clean energy generation with tax relief to new green technologies, and more.
Supporting Families: enhancing tax relief for families adopting a child, expanding tax relief for health-related services, capping wholesale wireless rates to make service more affordable, cracking down on cross-border price discrimination, and more.
Strengthening Communities: improving broadband in rural and remote communities, establishing a $200 million National Disaster Mitigation Program to help communities prepare for natural disasters, introducing a Search and Rescue Volunteers Tax Credit, and more.
Standing Up for Victims of Crime: implementing the Victim's Bill of Rights and proving funding for a DNA-based Missing Persons Index.
"Unlike previous governments, who balanced the budget on the backs of the provinces, this government has continued to grow provincial transfers to record levels. For Saskatchewan, the federal budget confirmed that transfers will total $1.4 billion in 2014-15 - a whopping 31 per cent increase from under the previous Liberal government. "We've grown federal support to historic levels, and it will continue to grow into the future."
Building Plan Announced
In addition to the budget announcement Breitkreuz says Yorkton and Melville area resident will stand to benefit from $53 billion new Building Canada Plan.
Details, which relate to key elements of the New Building Canada Fund, provide provinces, territories and municipalities with the information they need to plan infrastructure projects in their jurisdictions. They include dedicated funding for small communities, provincial-territorial allocations, project categories eligible for support, cost-sharing thresholds and public-private partnership (P3) screening requirements.
"This government has proudly made unprecedented investments in Canada's infrastructure since 2006. I am extremely happy to announce that we have now released specific details about the New Building Canada Plan," says Breitkreuz. "With the release of these details, our communities have the information needed to develop their local infrastructure priorities and start planning for the years ahead."
The New Building Canada Plan, which is expected to launch this spring, is the largest, long-term infrastructure plan in our nation's history and it will continue to focus on projects that enhance economic growth.
Quick Facts
Over $32 billion is specifically available for municipalities through the permanent and indexed Gas Tax Fund and the incremental Goods and Services Tax Rebate for municipalities.
The government's new plan includes a $14 billion New Building Canada Fund, which will have $10 billion for provinces and territories (with $1 billion directed to small communities under 100,000) and $4 billion for projects of national significance.
Through the P3 Canada Fund, $1.25 billion in new funding is available.
In 2007, the Government of Canada provided $33 billion in stable, flexible and predictable funding across the country. In fact, $6 billion under existing programs will continue to flow to projects across the country this year and beyond, and municipalities are also receiving $2 billion a year through the federal Gas Tax Fund.
"Through the original Building Canada Plan, infrastructure stimulus measures and other infrastructure initiatives, the federal government has supported more than 43,000 projects in Canada that have created jobs and economic growth and contributed to a higher quality of life for Canadian families," concludes Breitkreuz.
