Provencher Member of Parliament, Ted Falk, welcomed the federal budget, Economic Action Plan 2014, and its focus on job creation, economic growth, and keeping taxes low.
Through implementing this budget, the Conservative Government plans to balance the federal budget by 2015.
“Unlike previous governments, who balanced the budget at a cost to the provinces, our Conservative Government continued to grow provincial transfers to record levels,” said MP Falk. “The federal budget confirmed that transfers to Manitoba will total almost $3.4 billion in 2014-15 – an impressive 24% increase since we formed government.”
While the opposition has been publicly calling for the federal budget to include new tax hikes on Canadians and more deficit spending, our Government rejected both demands. Indeed, Economic Action Plan 2014 contained no new taxes on families and businesses, while also continuing to ensure government spending was efficient and effective as possible.
Economic Action Plan 2014 includes key measures to support Manitoba families and strengthen our economy, while keeping taxes low and returning to balanced budgets in 2015, including:
- Protecting Communities from Natural Disasters, by investing $200 million to establish a National Disaster Mitigation Program.
- Improving Broadband Internet in Rural and Northern Communities, by investing $305 million to extend and enhance broadband service for up to an additional 280,000 Canadians.
- Creating the Canada Apprentice Loan: which will provide apprentices in Red Seal trades access to over $100 million in interest-free loans each year.
- Expanding the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers, by investing $75 million to help unemployed older workers put their talents and experience back to work.
- Cutting the Red Tape Burden, by eliminating over 800,000 payroll deduction remittances to Canada Revenue Agency made every year by over 50,000 small businesses.
- Promoting Fairness in the Credit Card Market, by committing to work with groups to help lower credit card acceptance costs for small businesses and to further improve business practices.
- Simplifying the Canada Student Loans Program, by no longer including the value of vehicles that students need to get to school and work in the loan assessment process. As a result, 19,000 students – mainly in rural and suburban communities – will get increased access to student loans.
- Supporting Internships for Young Canadians with a $40 million investment to support up to 3,000 internships for post-secondary graduates in high-demand fields and $15 million to support up to 1,000 internships in small and medium-sized businesses.
- Launching the Canadian Employers for Caregivers Action Plan, to work with employers so that caregivers can maximize their participation in the workforce while being able to provide care to their loved ones.
- Introducing a New Pilot Price Insurance Program, to provide cattle and hog producers in Western Canada with insurance against unexpected price declines within a production cycle.
- Better Protecting Seniors Using Financial Services, by requiring enhanced disclosure by banks on the costs and benefits of using powers of attorney and joint accounts, as well as requiring more robust processes and staff training related to these services.
- Expanding the Funeral and Burial Program, to ensure that modern day veterans of modest means can have a dignified funeral and burial.
- Increasing Access to Veterans Services, by enabling veterans and their families to engage the Department of Veterans Affairs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Honouring Canada’s Veterans, by giving former Canadian Armed Forces personnel priority in federal public service employment opportunities.
“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,” said MP Falk. “That’s why Economic Action Plan 2014 will continue our Conservative Government’s focus on creating more jobs and growing the economy in Provencher and across the country.”
