HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-04-29, Page 3Wednesday, April 29, 2015 • Huron Expositor 3
Huron -Bruce MP touts Conservative federal government's latest budget
Marco Vigliotti
Huron Expositor
The federal Conservative gov-
ernment's latest budget pro-
vides meaningful tax relief for
Canadians, especially young
families and seniors, and makes
robust investments in the coun-
try's rebounding economy, says
Huron -Bruce MP Ben Lobb.
His Liberal opponent in this
year's upcoming federal elec-
tion, however, argues that the
budget gives the "most to Cana-
dians who need the least" and
fails to offer a substantive plan
for jobs and growth that will
benefit residents of
Huron -Bruce.
Lobb points to income -split-
ting, a $160 monthly increase to
the universal childcare benefit - a
$60 hike for children age six to 17
- and the full refunding of regis-
tration costs for enrolling chil-
dren in sports and recreation pro-
grams as some of the most
impactful measures for families
contained in the roughly $290 bil-
lion spending blueprint,
announced Tuesday in the House
of Commons.
The Conservative back-
bencher also touts the expan-
sion of the period people caring
for a dying loved one can draw
from unemployment insurance
from six weeks to six months as
an effort to "ease the stress and
financial burden" facing fami-
lies during these difficult
periods.
"They'll make a big difference
immediately for families," he said
of the government's budget meas-
ures in a phone interview from his
Parliament Hill office.
Lobb cited the reduction in
minimum annual withdrawals
from Registered Retirement
Income Funds and increase in
annual contribution limits to tax-
free savings accounts (TFSA) from
$5,550 to $10,000 as major boons
for seniors, who were front and
centre in the election year spend-
ing plan.
"Seniors are obviously a huge
demographic in Canada...they've
really built the country into what it
is today. Anything we could do to
Scoreboard
Seaforth
Shuffleboard
April 22
Men's high: Cor DeCorte 4 wins;
Arnold Ramsey, Erich Matzold,
Red Vantyghem and Frank Golding
3 wins.
Women's high: Joyce Matzold,
Catherine DeCorte 3 wins.
Submitted
Huron -Bruce MP Ben Lobb and his Liberal opponent in this year's upcoming election, Allan Thompson, disagree sharply about the merits of the Conservative
federal government's most recent budget. Lobb says the budget offers substantial tax relief for families, seniors and small businesses, while Thompson argues
that most of the proposed tax schemes are not helpful for the vast majority of Canadians and only provided aid to those "who need it the least."
help them as they age is great," he
explained.
In a measure aimed at entre-
preneurs of all ages, the budget
calls for a further two per cent
reduction in the small business
tax, dropping it from 11 per cent to
nine by 2019.
It also includes a tax break for
firms on equipment costs in a
nod to the country's tumultuous
manufacturing sector, which
remains a major economic
driver in seat rich southwestern
Ontario.
"We've made a number of stra-
tegic investments in manufactur-
ing, science and innovation (and)
technology," Lobb said, referenc-
ing specifically the multi-year
automotive supplier innovation
fund.
Allan Thompson, federal Lib-
eral candidate for Huron -Bruce,
slammed the Conservative
budget for catering heavily to
the affluent, while ignoring the
challenges facing Canada's mid-
dle class.
He narrowed in on the
government's highly -touted
income splitting tax scheme,
framing it as a too -costly meas-
ure that would only benefit the
country's wealthiest
households.
"Income splitting...(costs) $2
billion, which really only goes to
about 15 per cent of Canadians,"
Thompson said, adding that he
didn't "see a lot" in the budget that
"fosters growth and creates jobs
and does things for your average
middle class Canadian or some-
body trying to get into the middle
class."
He also argued that increasing
the TFSA limit wouldn't provide
much relief for most Canadians,
questioning how many people had
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an additional $10,000 lying around
at the end of the year to put
towards their savings.
After years of dipping into the
red, Finance Minister Joe Oliver's
maiden budget projects a slen-
der $1.4 billion surplus in the
2015-16 fiscal year, returning
Ottawa to black for the first time
since the onset of the global
recession in 2008.
Balancing the books, however,
required shrinking the govern-
ment's usual contingency fund of
$3 billion to $1 billion, the sale of
its shares in General Motors and
finding $900 million in savings by
overhauling sick leave for civil
servants.
It also banks on two per cent
annual economic growth and on
oil prices rebounding from last
year's steep tumble, which was
largely fuelled by concerns of
excessive supply from new devel-
opments in North America and
abroad unleashed by hydraulic
fracturing.
Lobb downplayed criticism
that the government was betting
on exceptionally optimistic pro-
jections to eke out a surplus,
saying Canada has "a very posi-
tive economic outlook moving
forward."
"We know that the worldwide...
economy is going to recover and
we know that the price of oil and
gas is going to strengthen," he
added.
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