Amherst Daily News
OTTAWA – Many were expecting Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to present a no-frills budget and that’s what Canadians received Thursday.
The minister tabled the 2013-2014 budget – his eighth – announcing no new taxes, new programs for manufacturers, a hardline on offshore tax evasion, and investments in technology.
A new job grant program will offer up-to $15,000 for training through federal, provincial and employer partnerships. The budget also announced $1.4 billion in tax relief for manufacturers over four years when they invest in new machinery or equipment.
Canadians using offshore accounts to evade taxes will start to feel the heat through the federal Stop International Tax Evasion program.
The government will also invest $20 million through the 2013-2014 budget into technology upgrades, like video conferencing, to reduce government travel spending by an estimated $43 million annually.
First nation communities were offered a modest increase for housing construction in the budget, while $100 million for housing in Nunavut was earmarked for the next three years.
Cuts announced in the budget were not unexpected. The $3 billion in cuts were targeted in last year’s budget. Going into the year, more than 16,000 positions had been eliminated from the public sector, 9,400 through attrition.
Other highlights:
• Tax credit for adoptive parents to reduce some of the costs of adoption.
• 'Snitch line’ to report international tax evasion or avoidance of at least $100,000.
• Gas tax fund for cities to increase two per cent each year.
• $119 million over five years to transition homeless off the streets.
• New programs to promote apprenticeship.
