Video Transcripts

- Welcome - Overview - Environment - Health Care - Students - Seniors - Reducing Taxes for Families - A Safer Canada -

Welcome

Hello, Im Jim Flaherty, Canadas Minister of Finance. Thanks for visiting our website.

It is a comprehensive, user-friendly resource where you can find anything you want to know about Budget 2007. On this site you will find:

Copies of all budget documents;

A multimedia presentation, that presents key Budget information;

A Tax Savings Calculator, that provides an instant view of what the budget means specifically to you;

Videos on how the Budget affects families, students, and seniors;

A special Quick Index to Budget 2007 thats only available on the Web; and

This year, for the first time, we have Podcasts, for those wanting budget information on the go.

I invite you to take the time to learn more about what is in this years Budget, and how it will benefit you and your family.

Overview

Budget 2007 will lead to a stronger, safer, and better Canada.

Firstly, were making an historic investment in things that matter to Canadians, like health care, post-secondary education and the environment, by restoring fiscal balance in Canada by providing the provinces and territories with over $39 billion dollars over seven years.

Secondly, were cutting taxes, to make things easier for working families. This Budget includes a Working Families Tax Plan that will leave more money in the pockets of the people who earn it.

Thirdly, were cracking down on corporate tax avoiders by stepping up our fight against offshore tax havens.

Fourthly, were investing in social priorities that Canadians value, including the preservation of our environment and the modernization of our health care system.

For more details, consult the Budget plan and other information on this web site.

Environment

Canada is the most beautiful country in the world. It is our responsibility to preserve it for future generations.

Budget 2007 takes significant steps to protect our environment.

We are reducing greenhouse gases by giving people incentives to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles, and taking old, polluting cars off the roads.

We are safeguarding our ecologically-sensitive lands and cleaning up our lakes, rivers and oceans through our new National Water Strategy.

We are providing provinces and territories financial support for their own environmental measures through a new $1.5 billion eco-Trust.

For the first time ever, our Clean Air Act makes greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution from industry and transportation sectors subject to regulation.

And we are also investing $2 billion to help strengthen our biofuel industry.

Our government is taking a responsible and realistic approach to environmental preservation and protection.

For more details, consult the Budget plan and other information on this web site.

Health Care

Health care is a cornerstone of this great country.

We must take steps to ensure Canada remains a world leader in the health care field.

Through the Canada Health Transfer, were providing more money to the provinces and territories than we did last year;

Here are some of the new investments were making in health care:

Funding is being provided to Canada Health Infoway to encourage the adoption of electronic health records, helping to reduce wait times and increase efficiency of the health care system;

Funding is being provided to provinces that have committed to implement a Patient Wait Times Guarantee and additional funding to the Canadian Institute for Health Information to improve information on wait times;

Funding is being provided to the provinces and territories to help protect women and girls from cancer of the cervix through immunization programs to conquer cancer the way we did polio;

Funding is being provided to the No Child Without program to provide free MedicAlert bracelets to children suffering from serious diseases; and

The establishment of a Canadian Mental Health Commission to develop a national mental health strategy.

For more details, consult the Budget plan and other information on this web site.

Students

Talented, creative people are the most critical asset to a successful national economy.

Thats why our long-term economic plan, Advantage Canada, sets us on a course to create the best-educated, most skilled and most flexible work force in the world.

Budget 2007 proposes significant investments in education and training.

Were increasing federal funding for post-secondary education by $800 million per year;

Were providing unprecedented scholarships for graduate students and creating three new scholarships in medicine, business and engineering.

Were providing half a billion dollars a year in new funding for training programs;

Were helping parents save for their childrens education by providing greater flexibility in the Registered Education Savings Program; and

Were modernizing the Canada Student Loans Program to make it more responsive to students needs.

For more details, consult the Budget plan and other information on this web site.

Seniors

Seniors helped build this great country.

And they deserve to live life to the fullest.

That means helping seniors retain more of their hard-earned retirement incomes.

Budget 2007 will further support seniors by raising the age limit for Registered Pension Plans and Registered Retirement Savings Plans to 71 from 69.

We are also providing funding to Canada Health Infoway for initiatives to improve the quality of health care, reduce the chance of medication errors and shorten patient wait times.

This builds on initiatives our government has already taken.

In Budget 2006 we doubled the Pension Income Credit.

In addition, our Tax Fairness Plan provides another $1 billion of relief, primarily by allowing pension income splitting.

For more details, consult the Budget Plan and other information on this web site.

Reducing Taxes for Families

I hear it at the hockey arena. I hear it at the coffee shops. I hear it from people on the streets.

Taxes in Canada are still too high.

Its true. I know that as Finance Minister. I also know it as the father of three teenage boys.

I think the most important investment we can make as a country is to support families and their children.

Budget 2007 focuses on reducing taxes for families through our Tax Back Guarantee;

Through a Working Income Tax Benefit to make employment more rewarding and help parents on social assistance over the welfare wall, and

Through a new Working Families Tax Plan, that includes a new $2,000 Child Tax Credit for each child under 18.

For more details, consult the Budget plan and other information on this web site.

A Safer Canada

Canada is known around the world as a safe, law-abiding society. We need to work together to keep it that way.

Budget 2007 will help by:

Establishing a new National Anti-Drug Strategy. It includes prevention, treatment and enforcement measures to combat the use of illegal drugs, such as those coming from grow ops or meth labs and distributed by gangs.

Providing funding to the RCMP to protect our most precious asset---our children---from online sexual exploitation and help uncover suspected cases of human trafficking;

Investing in Market Enforcement Teams to crack down on white collar crime; and

Providing funding to combat the criminal use of firearms.

For more details, consult the Budget plan and other information on this web site.