Since I will be retiring at the next election, this will be the last budget I will deal with as your Member of Parliament. I am excited about our Government’s Economic Action Plan 2015. As promised, it is balanced, and will have a surplus of over a billion dollars to pay down debt. And I’m happy to report that it contains some key measures to support Canadian families and our economy. These include:

• Cutting Tax for Small Business: Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to further reduce the small business tax rate down to 9% by 2019. Due to measures taken since the Conservatives formed government, taxes for small businesses have been reduced by almost 50%.
• Supporting Families: This budget benefits 100% of families with children by lowering taxes and increasing benefits. That means that due to measures introduced by our government, the average family of four will be $6,600 better off.
• Tax Free Savings Account: Eleven million Canadians have already opened Tax-Free Savings accounts to save money for their priorities. Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to increase annual contribution limit from $5,500 to $10,000, effective for the 2015 taxation year.
• Supporting Job-Creating Businesses: The newest budget plan proposes to provide funding to responsibly develop our resources and increase the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption to $1 million for Canadian farmers and fishermen.
• Supporting Seniors: Seniors form a large percentage of people in the Yorkton-Melville constituency. Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide more flexibility for this segment of our population by reducing the minimum withdrawal factors for Registered Retirement Income Funds, giving seniors the ability to keep more of their retirement savings. Our Government has also listened to the plea from many Seniors and Disability organizations to assist people to remain in their own homes for longer. This budget proposes a new, permanent, non-refundable Home Accessibility Tax Credit for seniors and persons with disabilities.
• National Security: To ensure that our Armed Forces continue to have what they need to accomplish the dangerous tasks required of them, Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes increase National Defence’s budget by $11.8 billion over 10 years. We are also providing new funding to help fight terrorism.

Since the recession, Canada has created over 1.2 million new jobs, but we live in uncertain times and the global economy remains fragile. That’s why Economic Action Plan 2015 will help us stay focussed on creating more jobs and growing the economy.

I’m also pleased to note that our Province of Saskatchewan will receive record high transfer payments to support health care, education, and social programs – $1.5B in federal transfers this year. That’s an increase of $409M (or 38%) since we formed government.

Not only was this budget designed to let people keep more of their hard-earned dollars, but it places the emphasis where it belongs – on doing as much as possible to keep life affordable and secure for anyone who calls Canada home. Our country continues to lead the world economically, and is the envy of nations worldwide.

-30-