Our government recently tabled our second federal budget. I was glad to see further tax cuts, and a continued commitment to significantly lowering our national debt. The economic plan delivered by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also invests in Canadians’ key priorities like improving health care, protecting our environment and making our communities safer.

Here in Vegreville-Wainwright, parents struggle daily with the challenge of raising a family. We need to make it more affordable for people to have children, and to raise them. In Budget 2007 we are creating a Working Families’ Tax Plan. This plan has three components:

• first, for families with children it includes a brand new $2,000-per-child tax credit for children under 18 that will help families to get ahead;
• second, we are ending the marriage penalty through an increase of the spousal and dependant amounts to the same level as the basic personal amount; and
• third, we are helping parents save for their children’s education, by strengthening the RESP program.

We are also taking action to ensure that our seniors can live in dignity. In Budget 2007 we’re helping seniors by raising the age limit for RRSPs to 71 from 69 years, increasing the age credit by $1,000 and permitting pension income splitting.

Seventy-five per cent of the personal income tax reductions in Budget 2007 will go to Canadians earning $75,000 or less. Since being in power, Canada’s new Government has introduced nearly $38 billion in individual tax relief over this and the next two fiscal years.

Our government is also lowering our national mortgage by $9.2 billion – on top of the $13.2 billion we have put against the debt since elected. That is the equivalent to $700 dollars in debt relief for every Canadian. Lower debt will mean lower interest payments, which will mean lower taxes. Through our Tax-Back Guarantee, every dollar saved from lower interest payments will be returned to Canadians through personal income tax reductions.

Budget 2007 also provides a total of $2.6 billion in new health care investments, as well as an increase in health transfers. This means our government will transfer $44 billion in health care funding to the provinces and territories over the next two years.

The budget is a big boost for farmers, homegrown biofuels producers, and our environment. The renewable fuels operating incentive program will provide the stability and support necessary for a domestic ethanol and biodiesel industry to flourish, and allow for the commercialization of next generation biofuels such as cellulose ethanol.
In fact, the renewable fuels producer payment program will lead to over 20 new world-class biofuels facilities in Canada, create over 14,000 new jobs in rural communities, and provide a new market for over 200 million bushels of Canadian grains and oilseeds.

The operating incentive program will provide $0.10 cents/litre for domestic renewable gasoline production (ethanol) and $0.20 cents/litre for domestic renewable diesel production (biodiesel) for the first three years, then decline thereafter. It will also provide $200 million for capital grants to encourage farmer participation, and $21 million for the Biofuels Opportunities for Producers (BIOP) program for biofuels feasibility studies.

We have also taken action to make our communities safer. Many serious crimes that we read about today, including gang activity, link back to the drug trade. As a result, we are launching a new National Anti-Drug Strategy to combat the use of illegal drugs. We are also providing funding to protect children from online sexual exploitation and to assist investigators in suspected cases of human trafficking.

Our actions today will create a Canada that we will be proud to pass on to our children and grandchildren—a Canada with a standard of living and quality of life that are second to none. Canada’s New Government is working for all Canadians to build a stronger, safer, better Canada.

Leon Benoit, MP
Vegreville-Wainwright