Report From Parliament

December 08, 2009

It’s official! Canada has recorded positive economic growth for two quarters, signalling the economic recovery has started. Canada’s Economic Action Plan is working!

Canada took early significant action in the October 2007 Economic Statement, anticipating the prospect of a weaker global economy. The tax reductions in Canada’s Economic Action Plan are an essential part of the Government’s effort to stimulate the economy and to create or maintain jobs. Lower taxes help ease the financial pressure on individuals, families and businesses and help build a solid foundation for future economic growth. Lower taxes also stimulate individual spending, which helps to protect and create jobs. The tax reductions in the Plan reinforce the Government’s ambitious agenda of tax relief aimed at creating a tax system that fuels job creation and investment in Canada, improving the standard of living of all Canadians.


Specific Measures

Tax relief provided by the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB), first introduced in Budget 2007, will be effectively doubled to further reduce the welfare wall and help ensure that more low income Canadians are financially better off as a result of getting a job. The enhanced WITB will provide up to $925 per year
to single individuals and up to $1,680 per year to couples and single parents. Legislation implementing the enhanced WITB was adopted by the House of Commons on November 17, 2009 and is proceeding through the Senate.

Tax assistance of up to $1,350 per family in support of home renovations and improvements is helping stimulate the economy and encouraging investment by Canadians in their homes.

Tax relief for low- and middle-income seniors has been put in place, providing up to an additional $150 in annual tax savings.

Increased child benefits started to flow in July, providing up to $436 per year for a family with two children, making raising children more affordable. To help small businesses retain more of their earnings for reinvestment, expansion and job creation, Canada’s Economic Action Plan increased the amount of small business income eligible for the reduced federal income tax rate of 11 per cent from $400,000 to $500,000. This enhanced support took effect on January 1, 2009 and can save small businesses up to $8,000 each in 2009 taxes.

Canada’s manufacturers and processors are benefiting from an extension of the temporary 50-per-cent straight-line accelerated capital cost allowance (CCA) rate on machinery and equipment purchases, and the permanent elimination of tariffs on a wide range of machinery and equipment effective January 28, 2009. These measures are helping businesses in the manufacturing and processing industries make the necessary equipment purchases and position themselves for long-term success.

To help businesses adopt new technology at a faster pace, a two-year 100-per-cent CCA rate for investments in computers has been in effect since January 28, 2009.

To further aid taxpayers in Ontario, the federal government will provide $4.3 billion dollars to cushion the Provincial decision to harmonize sales taxes.  While the current federal opposition campaigned to eliminate the federal sales tax, (GST), and promptly broke that promise, our government rejects opposition calls to raise the GST. I am proud of the fact that our government kept our promise ahead of schedule to cut the GST. I hope the leadership demonstrated by our government in lowering the federal sales tax is emulated by the province, once the tax changes it is implementing are in place.

In total, actions taken by our Conservative Government since 2006 will reduce taxes by $220 billion over 2008–09 and the following five fiscal years, allowing Canadian individuals, families and businesses to keep more of their money.

As your Federal Member of Parliament, I am pleased to represent you on a variety of issues. Whether that issue is eliminating the long gun registry, promoting agriculture, international trade, AECL, the military or jobs in the working forest, I am here to serve you!

As always, if you have any concerns of a federal nature, or just want to share your views with me, please do not hesitate to contact my office.

Office contact Information: Constituency Office of Cheryl Gallant, MP, 84 Isabella St., Pembroke On. K8A 5S5 or call 732-4404. If you are long distance you may call the office toll-free at 1-866-295-7165. There is no postage required when you write your Federal Member of Parliament.