Great Budget For London Says Holder

Finance Minister Visits London On Friday

March 4, 2010 –  London West Member of Parliament Ed Holder made the following comments following the tabling of the federal Budget in the House of Commons today by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

 

“This budget strongly reflects what Londoners told me during my Budget consultations by creating a thoughtful balance between fiscal restraint and prudent spending,” said Holder.  “The desire of Londoners is not to continue with deficits longer than necessary, but not to constrain spending so quickly as to lose the economic gains we have made during the fragile economic recovery.  I’m pleased that there will be no tax increases or cuts to health and education spending to achieve this.”

 

“Jobs remain the number one issue for me in London and so I was extremely pleased to see the significant $30 million commitment to tackling youth employment problems.  It is critical our young people get a good financial start with meaningful employment and the 2010 Budget recognizes this.  In London, this is critical,” said Holder.

 

“Single-parent families will no longer be disadvantaged under the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) because they will be able to transfer the income to an eligible dependent.  Single-parents will not have to consider the UCCB as part of their own taxable income.  This means single-parents get to keep more of their hard-earned income,” noted Holder.

 

“Small businesses, the main generator of jobs, will benefit significantly with the creation of a tariff-free zone for manufacturing inputs that make modernization more attractive.  With increased international competitiveness comes jobs and these measures will translate into new jobs quickly,” added Holder.

 

“This Budget is the second and final phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan which has served London extremely well.  We will finalize the stimulus spending next spring and a legacy of infrastructure enhancements will last generations.  Deficit spending was necessary, but we cannot burden future generations by spending beyond what is necessary.  While our economic recovery is still fragile, it is showing increasing signs of holding.  This responsible and prudent Budget does nothing to jeopardize this.”

 

London also stands to benefit from other budgetary items such as:

• $3.2 billion in personal income tax relief resulting from adjusted federal tax brackets, enhancing the  Working Income Tax Benefit, higher child benefits for parents, and lower taxes for low and middle income seniors.

• The Unemployment Insurance program five-week benefit extension will continue to be in place;

• The 78-week Work Sharing agreements will continue to be in place;

• $32 million per year for the federal research granting councils to support advanced research and improve commercialization;

• $8 million per year to support the indirect costs of federally-sponsored research at post-secondary institutions;

• $15 million per year to double the budget of the College and Community Innovation program, which fosters research collaborations between businesses and college researchers;

• The creation of the new Canada post-doctoral fellowship program, to help attract the best young researchers to Canada;

• The Own The Podium program will be supported with additional funds for both winter and summer sports;

• An additional $10 million to advance the new Windsor-Detroit border crossing and another $87 million to Canada Border Services Agency to increase efficiency and security.

The complete federal Budget is available online at www.fin.gc.ca.