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Ottawa, March 20, 1995
1995-027

Government Introduces Legislation to Implement February 27 Budget Measures

Finance Minister Paul Martin today introduced in the House of Commons a bill to implement measures announced in the February 27, 1995 budget.

"The Act proposes to implement initiatives to restore fiscal health by refocusing government on priority roles and needs," Mr. Martin said. "This is the key to meeting the government's fundamental objective - sustaining growth and job creation."

One of the measures is the establishment of the Canada Health and Social Transfer. This initiative will convert Established Program Financing for health and education, and the Canada Assistance Plan into a single, consolidated block transfer. The result will be a transfer system that is fiscally sustainable and more effective in meeting contemporary needs.

The bill also proposes the elimination of the Western Grain Transportation subsidy under the Western Grain Transportation Act, and the Atlantic freight subsidies under the Atlantic Region Freight Assistance Act and the Maritime Freight Rates Act. These costly subsidies, designed decades ago, are no longer efficient in achieving their desired objectives. There are measures to facilitate the transition to a new system, including compensation payments.

In addition, the bill contains amendments to the Work Force Adjustment Directive, the Public Service Employment Act and the Public Sector Compensation Act that will facilitate a fair and orderly downsizing of the public service.

There are also a number of other measures in the bill, including the termination of payments under the Public Utilities Income Tax Transfer Act; technical amendments to the Financial Administration Act to facilitate the government's Retail Debt Initiative; and changes to the Pension Benefits Standards Act that will allow holders of locked-in RRSPs to purchase Life Income Funds.

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