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- Welcome to Our Web Site - General Message - Core Commitments - Opportunity and Tax Relief -

Hi. I’m Jim Flaherty, Canada’s Minister of Finance.

Welcome to our Budget 2006 Web site.

We have designed it with you in mind, making it comprehensive yet easy to navigate.

You will find it’s very user friendly. With a simple click of the mouse you can get as much or as little information as you need.

It’s up to you, and, that’s how it should be.

After all, this is your budget. You have a right to know how your government is planning to invest your hard-earned tax dollars. Our government is accountable, disciplined and fiscally responsible.

Take some time and enjoy our multi-media experience. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on how we can serve you better, please contact us.

Contact us at consltcomm@fin.gc.ca.

Budget 2006 is about focusing on priorities.

It delivers real results for people in a focused, disciplined and fiscally responsible way.

It makes federal budget planning more transparent and accountable.

It creates greater opportunity for Canadians, invests in our families and communities, makes our streets safer and our borders more secure.

It delivers more tax relief than the last four federal budgets combined, and puts twice as much into tax relief as in new spending.

Thanks to our approach hard-working Canadians will have more money in their pockets.

And, businesses—large and small—will finally get the tax relief promised, but not delivered in the past.

It also provides a framework for discussion to restore the fiscal balance in our country, based on fundamental principles all Canadians can support.

Budget 2006 builds a stronger Canada by providing clear and focused benefits today, while laying a solid foundation for the future.

Core Commitments

With Budget 2006 we are focusing on priorities and delivering results for hardworking Canadians.

Our government is beginning with five key priorities.

First, we are cleaning up government. By passing Canada’s first Federal Accountability Act we are making everyone in government, from the Prime Minister down, accountable to Canadians.

Second, we are easing the tax burden on Canadians by introducing a comprehensive tax reduction plan beginning with a one-percentage point cut to the GST.

Third, we are making our streets and cities safer by addressing crime and introducing tough new measures such as mandatory minimum sentences.

Fourth, we are helping Canadian families balance work and family life, by providing a $1,200 a year Universal Child Care Benefit.

And fifth, we are ensuring Canadians receive the health care they have paid for, by working with the provinces to establish a Patient Wait Times Guarantee.

The 2006 budget delivers on our government’s commitments, providing real results for all hardworking Canadians.

Our government agrees that hardworking Canadians pay too much tax. That’s why Budget 2006 delivers more tax relief than the last four federal budgets combined.

In fact, this budget puts twice as much money into tax relief as it does into new spending.

People across Canada get up day after day and go to work. They operate their own businesses, create jobs, produce and deliver quality goods. They deserve to keep more of their own money to invest or spend as they see fit.

We have developed a comprehensive tax cut plan that puts more money in your pocket, beginning with our commitment to reduce the GST by one percentage point.

As of July 1, 2006 the GST will be cut from seven to six per cent.

This is a tax cut for every Canadian, including those who do not earn enough to benefit from reductions in personal income taxes.

You will see savings every time you make a purchase, regardless of how big or small the item or service.

This is just one component of our tax reduction plan.

Our government is easing your tax burden with a variety of tax initiatives, including:

• Reducing the lowest personal income tax rate to 15.5 per cent as of July 1, 2006;

• Increasing the basic personal amount you can earn without paying a cent of federal income tax for 2005, 2006 and 2007; and

• Introducing the new Canada Employment Credit to give working Canadians an added break.