On Parliament Hill

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of being in the House of Commons to hear Finance Minister Joe Oliver deliver Economic Action Plan 2015 which will support jobs and growth in Provencher, help our families and communities prosper and ensure the security of all Canadians.

We have kept our promise to Canadians by balancing the budget, the first balanced budget since the global recession. Since then, under our leadership, Canada has created over 1.2 million new jobs. However we live in uncertain times and the global economy remains fragile. That’s why Economic Action Plan 2015 will continue our Government’s focus on creating more jobs and growing the economy across the country.

Economic Action Plan 2015 includes key measures to support Provencher families and to support the Manitoba economy, including:

• Supporting Families: Economic Action Plan 2015 benefits 100% of families with children by lowering taxes and increasing benefits. An average family will receive $6,600 in support per year due to measures our government has introduced.
• Tax Free Savings Account: Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to increase the Tax-Free Savings Account annual contribution limit to $10,000, effective for the 2015 taxation year. There are now 11 million Canadians who have opened accounts to save money for their priorities.
• Cutting Tax for Small Business: Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to further reduce the small business tax rate down to 9% by 2019. Due to measures taken since we formed government, we have reduced taxes for small businesses by almost 50%.
• Supporting Job-Creating Businesses: Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide funding to responsibly develop our resources, to support our aerospace industry, and to increase the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption to $1 million for our farmers and fishermen.
• Supporting Seniors: Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide more flexibility for seniors by reducing the minimum withdrawal factors for Registered Retirement Income Funds to permit seniors to preserve more of their retirement savings. Economic Action Plan 2015 also proposes to introduce a new, permanent, non-refundable Home Accessibility Tax Credit for seniors and persons with disabilities.
• National Security: To ensure that our Armed Forces continue to have what they need to accomplish the dangerous tasks Canadians ask of them, Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes increase National Defence’s budget by $11.8 billion over 10 years. We are also providing new funding to help counter violent extremism and terrorism.
• Post-secondary education: We will be enhancing access to post-secondary education by expanding the eligibility for Low- and Middle-Income Canada Student Grants to students in short-duration programs.
• Compassionate care: We are supporting Canadians Caring for Gravely Ill and Dying Family Members by extending the Employment Insurance (EI) Compassionate Care Benefits from 6 weeks to over 6 months (26 weeks).

The news is not only good for individuals, but for the Province of Manitoba in general. Manitoba will receive record high transfer payments to support health care, education, and social programs. Specifically, Manitoba will receive $3.4B in federal transfers this year – a $717M increase (or 26%) from under the old Liberal government.

While we’re focused on creating jobs, Justin Trudeau has the same old Liberal high tax, high debt agenda that will threaten jobs and set working families back. Meanwhile, the NDP continues to push risky high-tax schemes like a $20 billion carbon tax that would hurt Canada’s economy and kill Canadian jobs. Only our Conservative Government can be trusted to manage Canada’s economy and keep taxes low for the people of Provencher.

We are proud of our plan that is lowering taxes and providing benefits directly to families right here in Provencher, allowing them to reinvest in the Canadian economy.