The Liberal authorities unveiled $21.1 billion in new spending in its fall financial assertion (FES) Monday — a lot of it going to border safety and the promised GST tax break.
The FES additionally proclaims some lower-profile coverage and spending choices. Listed here are 5 issues you’ll want to know:
Combating auto theft
The federal authorities has estimated that 90,000 automobiles are reported stolen yearly in Canada. The Insurance coverage Bureau of Canada (IBC) studies that in 2022 alone, 105,000 automobiles had been stolen throughout the nation.
The Canada Border Companies Company (CBSA) says thefts had been down in 2024 by nearly a fifth, however the Trudeau authorities has stated combating auto theft stays a coverage precedence.
The FES features a few measures to take care of auto theft, together with a promise to amend the Felony Code to make bail and sentencing legal guidelines stricter.
The FES units apart $1.3 billion to assist safe the border. The doc says that a few of that cash will assist authorities crack down on trafficking in stolen automobiles, medication and weapons on the border.
The federal government stated it should additionally amend the Customs Act to present the CBSA further powers to examine items destined for export.
“This can embrace obligating warehouse operators and shippers to offer enough lodging for CBSA officers to hold out their mandate,” the FES says.
Terry Fox on the $5
The FES says the federal authorities is placing Canadian hero Terry Fox on the brand new $5 invoice to honour his Marathon of Hope and his efforts to boost cash for most cancers analysis.
“By February 1981, the Marathon of Hope had raised $24.7 million or $1 for each Canadian,” the FES says. “His run was interrupted simply previous the half-way level when the most cancers reached his lungs, and in the end took his life.
“By way of his efforts, the 22-year-old confirmed Canadians the distinction that an atypical particular person may make by way of sheer willpower and willpower.”
Former Liberal prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier shall be moved from the $5 financial institution invoice to the subsequent model of Canada’s $50 invoice.
Girls’s reproductive well being
The Liberal authorities introduced $90 million in funding over six years, after which $20 million per yr after that, to enhance entry to abortion and reproductive well being providers.
“Throughout the nation, anti-choice teams are working to limit a girl’s proper to decide on what’s finest for her physique,” the FES says. “In rural, distant and different under-served communities, entry to sexual and reproductive well being providers is commonly restricted.”
The $90 million will move by way of the Sexual and Reproductive Well being Fund, increasing the fund and making it everlasting. Created within the 2021 price range with a $45 million funding, the fund was renewed two years later with a further $36 million funding.
The $90 million in new cash will assist the fund assist community-based organizations of their efforts to enhance entry to abortion and different sexual and reproductive well being care providers.
The Liberal authorities can be setting apart $7.5 million over 4 years to assist Statistics Canada conduct new analysis on sexual and reproductive well being and rights.
Divesting Air Canada inventory
In the course of the pandemic, when airliners had been barely flying and worldwide journey got here to a standstill, the federal authorities invested $500 million in Air Canada and loaned the airline a further $1.4 billion to make sure it survived.
On prime of that, the federal authorities was additionally given share buy warrants that allowed the federal authorities to purchase shares at a pre-set value sooner or later.
“The federal government has all the time acknowledged it doesn’t intend to be a long-term shareholder of Air Canada and that the shares can be divested when applicable,” the FES stated.
The FES says that the federal authorities has now bought its $500 million fairness stake within the airline for $543 million. It says that, mixed with the $82 million the acquisition warrants had been bought for in 2022, the federal authorities made a revenue of $125 million.
The FES says that Air Canada will repay the excellent stability of $1.27 billion on its mortgage by 2028.
No signal of $250 cheques
In November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced that his authorities can be giving taxpayers a GST/HST vacation on the price of some important items.
On the identical time, Trudeau additionally supplied to ship $250 rebate cheques to the 18.7 million folks in Canada who labored in 2023 and earned $150,000 or much less.
NDP Chief Jagmeet Singh stated the measure ought to have been prolonged to assist those that didn’t work and retirees who stated they felt deserted by the federal government’s newest inflation reduction measure.
Singh, who ended his occasion’s governance and provide settlement with the Liberals earlier this fall, promised to withhold assist if the federal government did not cut up the guarantees into two items of laws.
The Liberal authorities stripped the $250 cheques from the tax break laws and the two-month GST/HST vacation handed by way of Parliament and obtained royal assent earlier this month.
Many anticipated that the $250 pledge would resurface within the FES, however the doc doesn’t include any point out of the measure.
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