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economist suntribune th federal budget tuesday feb 29 2000 58 billion in tax cuts highlight something for everyone federal budget canadians will feel tax relief martin by patrick casey staff writer it contained a little something for everyone but finance minister paul martins seventh federal bud get will long be remembered for 58billion worth of tax relief over the next five years martin turned speculation into reality yesterday afternoon in ottawa cutting personal income taxes for the first time in 12 years by targeting the middle class and hell pay for the initiative with the 95- billion federal surplus that could still rise by another 20 billion the personal and corporate tax breaks were 13 billion more than anticipated and the budget increased the ranks of the middle class by fine- tuning the income levels for tax purposes a person who earns 35000 to 70000 annually is now considered a middleincome earn er the ceiling formerly was 59000 the middleincome tax rate will fall from 26 to 24 per cent this july and drop another percentage point next year the tax cuts which are fully indexed to eliminate bracket creep through inflation will mean an annual savings of 500 for a family of four with two incomes totalling 25 billion for health education healthcare system still underfunded mpps say by jennifer brown staff writer another 25 billion for health care and postsecondary educa tion may sound good but local mpps say it represents a small share of what the federal govern ment should be paying the onetime transfer pay ments to be allocated to the provinces over the next four years will give health care a muchneed ed boost especially to provinces such as ontario where health care has been in crisis we actually stopped expecting transfer payments from the federal government said oak ridges mpp frank klees as he prepared to listen to the budget yesterday pointing out the canada health act originally suggested a 5050 funding by the provinces and fed eral government were receiving 6 billion less from the federal government than we were eight years ago weve been relying less and less on the federal government but klees federal counterpart bryon wilfert insists the liberal government has been working hard to give more money back to the provinces but would like to know just how the dollars are being spent the oak ridges mp suggested that despite the problems faced by hospitals in his province premier mike harris was more interested in giving tax cuts than fixing the healthcare system ontario decided to bring in tax cuts before balancing its budget and before restracturing its hospi tals we decided to bring in tax cuts only after the books are balanced wilfert said what id like to see and the federal minister of health would like to see is accountability all we do is transfer the money and what they do with it we dont know i dont begrudge the provinces any more money for health care but the problem is there is no accountability and of course it wont be enough quipped wilfert wilfert said last years budget which was touted as the health care budget handed the provinces 115 billion in transfer payments with 945 million going to ontarios healthcare system but york north mpp julia munro said the 945 million was spent in five specific areas of health care such as nursing and emergency rooms and only a small portion of the healthcare dollar is supported by the federal government munro said if hospitals are in critical need of funds wilfert says mpps should return to queens park now and not wait until their christmas break ends april 3 to determine where the money will go 60000 a 5percent deficit reduction surtax on middleincome canadians with earnings up to 85000 will also be eliminated by 2004 for lower income earners martin moved the basic personal exemption rate from 7200 to 8200 completely removing many people from the tax system this will leave more money where it belongs in the pockets of canadians martin said while delivering his seventh budget canadians are entitled to keep more of the money they earn after all they worked for it since 1993 canadians have been paying the price of a 42-bil- lion deficit although prime minister jean chretien has been under the gun to lower individual tax rates since martin delivered a balanced budget in 1998 and showed a 29billion surplus last year however the tax cuts are only guaranteed for two years with a commitment for the remaining three years as long as canada con tinues to experience a strong econ omy everything is based on how the economy is doing pointed out oak ridges liberal mp bryon wilfert mr martin has put dollars aside in case there is a economic downturn but remember the life of this government is only good for another two years we are prepared to make sure people are getting real tax relief we have to be prudent but the govern ment has demonstrated a strong commitment to children health care and taxes all this has been done without borrowing money in 1993 we had a chance to bring in tax cuts or deal with the deficit others have used borrowed money but we felt it was more important to tackle the deficit first he added other highlights of the budget include a 25billion onetime increase in the canada health and social transfer to the provinces with the money used for health or postsecondary education over four years a 26billion national federal infrastructure program over six years however only 450 million arrives in the first two years with 550 million over the final four years following the next federal election a 400billion fund for research to help stop the brain highlights of the federal budget paul martin finance minister delivered on promise of tax relief for canadians drain of hightech employees to the united states an increase in the child tax credit to 1975 by july 1 an increase of nearly 1000 and the child care deduction will rise from 7000 to 10000 per child employment insurance bene fits for maternal and paternal leave will double from six months to one year 7ftese are some of the mgwgrts from yesterdafs federal budget tabled in ottawa at 4 pm the government has promised 58 billion in cuts in corporate and personal taxes over the next five years as part of a comprehen sive financial plan families with an income of 60000 will see their personal tax rate drop to 24 per cent from 26 per cent theyll see a savings of 501 on their 2000 income taxes annual savings are projected at 1500 to 1600 after that the line between middle and highincome earners has changed until this budget any one earning more than 59000 annually was considered a highincome earner and taxed at 26 to 29 per cent with additional applicable surtaxes now high income is considered 70000 or more middle income is 35000 to 70000 annually eventually the middle income earner will be taxed at 23 per cent income tax will be indexed again to pre vent bracket creep the child tax credit will increase to 1975 in july from 1800 and will increase again to 2400 for the first child by 2004 2200 for the second child the government emphasized its commit ment to health care and education with a promise to transfer 25 billion over four years to the provinces for use in healthcare and education spending towns identifying projects frompage 1 improvements it will bring a halt to the good boom and the jobs that have been created growth does not happen in isolation and i hope the federal government is sympa thetic to us aside from major road repairs to areas such as dufferin street and weston road divona said 60 mil lion in improvements to sewer and water pipes are needed and a 35- million hydro transformer should be built near hwy 50 to serve new residential and business communi ties in vaughans west sector markham council has identified five infrastructure projects begin ning with an 8million hwy 407 overpass at rodick road that runs northsouth between woodbine avenue and warden avenue another 18 million is needed for road resurfacing 500000 for a bicycle and walking pathway from steeles avenue to angus glen plus a 25million fire station north of 14th avenue to replace the existing facility on john street and if ottawa is really generous mayor don cousens said 9 million in improvements are needed at the thornhill community centre including a seniors complex and a new pool we are always ready to partner with anyone on these projects because that really is the way these things work cousens said infrastructure projects are done in a short time frame so you really have to be ready to get going and make it a priority with the greater toronto services board considering spend ing 550000 over the next year to compile a strategy to deal with the gtas transportation crisis aurora mayor tim jones wants the infra structure grants to deal with priori ties identified by the board arenas and other things of that nature must take a second seat to basic infrastructure said jones thats where we have to get the public sector involved although aurora is currently well over budget on its library improvement project jones said councils should be responsible for local projects and the federal money should be spent on large- scale infrastructure that benefits the entire region jitiitir h j 1bb llasi loustc in 8m mwub 4 a agiaw bill houston 6404541 lease rates from as low as ford ltd financing from as low as wwwbillhoustonfordcom stouffville 0 11769 highway 48 o see dealer for details iflowrctm 1 wmmifml i i