Federal tax cuts will help economy, MP believes
By Bill Rea

The economy has been doing well, and the federal government has decided to share the benefits with Canadians.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced plans last week to cut taxes by some $60 billion over the next five years. That includes cutting the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from six to five per cent in the new year, and income tax cuts that are retro-active to the start of 2007.

"Canada's economic and fiscal fundamentals are rock solid, yet the world economy is experiencing turbulence and increased uncertainty," he stated in the opening of his economic statement. "Given this global economic uncertainty, now is the time to act. Our strong fiscal position provides Canada with an opportunity that few other countries have, to make broad-based tax reductions that will strengthen our economy, stimulate investment and create more and better jobs."

As well, there are plans to raise the basic personal exemption and cut $10 billion from the national debt.

Not surprisingly, York - Simcoe MP Peter Van Loan was "very delighted" with the measures Flaherty announced.

He pointed to the GST cut, commenting it "will really help out consumers and families making ends meet."

"It's also going to help our businesses because people will have more money in their pockets to buy things," he added, pointing out cars are already dropping in price.

Referring to the income tax measures, Van Loan pointed out it will mean larger refunds for families when they fill out their returns early next year.

"We've made it clear that we were going to deliver major tax relief to help strengthen our economy, which is already doing very well, and I'm pleased we've done that," he added.

Van Loan also pointed to the "terrific new job numbers" that were announced Friday, stating unemployment has dropped a full percentage point since the Conservatives took power last year, and is now at a 33-year low. He also said the government has created some 700,000 new jobs since taking over.

"I'm very happy all around with the state of the economy, the economic fiscal update and what it means for families in York - Simcoe," he added.

But Oak Ridges - Markham MP Lui Temelkovski seemed ready to let his Liberal colleagues take the credit for the good economic news.

"I think it's like a family situation, when one generation makes the money and the other one spends the money," he said, adding most government policies don't bear this kind of fruit so fast. He argued the surpluses come from the previous government.

He was also not very enthused with the tax cuts, commenting a government can't just do a thing like that "and not look after our people or important issues that need to be addressed.

Temelkovski said the Conservatives had promised they would be different than the previous Liberal government, but he didn't think that's been the case. "They've adopted some Liberal policies from the past," he said.

The former government, he stated, divided surpluses in three, with shares going toward tax relief, reducing the debt and programs.

"What they're doing is seriously flawed," he remarked, adding that will be revealed in the next year or so.

Cutting the GST doesn't impress Temelkovski either. He didn't think anyone would be able to find the importance of a one per cent cut, adding he'd like to see the money spent on programs that provide benefits to Canadians.

"Cutting taxes means we're going to cut programs," he declared, adding we could be seeing a repeat of the what happened with the government of Mike Harris excessively cut programs in Ontario, only this time on a national scale.