June 8, 2007
Budget 2007 to Move Manitoba Forward: Selinger
The 2007 budget was reintroduced and passed today in the legislature, Finance Minister Greg Selinger has announced.
Selinger said Budget 2007 will move Manitoba forward including investments in more doctors and nurses, creation of more opportunities for young people, making communities safer and making Manitoba a more affordable place to live, work and go to school.
“The 2007 budget builds on Manitobans’ priorities and continues to move our province forward into the future,” said Selinger. “The budget invests in health care, boosts support for schools, invests in the green economy and makes significant tax cuts to maintain our affordability advantage.”
Budget 2007 is the eighth straight balanced budget and the first summary budget in Manitoba’s history that fully reflects generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the minister noted. This is the first time in 50 years a Manitoba government has achieved eight straight balanced budgets.
The budget projects a summary surplus of $175 million while making a payment of $110 million to reduce debt and pay for pension liabilities. It projects a Fiscal Stabilization Fund balance of $477 million at the end of 2006-07. The only draw from the Fiscal Stabilization Fund for 2007-08 will be $37 million for federal funds allocated for health wait-time reductions. As was intended, these funds will be used exclusively to bring down health wait times.
The minister said the 2007 budget outlines detailed plans to build on past successes including:
· Moving forward in health care with new investments to support more doctors, nurses and technologists. It invests $3 million in new funding for physician specialist training including emergency room doctors, oncologists and pediatricians. It also provides ongoing support for an expanded 100-student faculty of medicine class, an increased 25-space licensing program for international medical graduates, more than 50 new technologist training seats and 3,000 nurses in training.
· Moving forward with a cleaner, healthier environment while continuing to seize the opportunities of the emerging green economy.
Budget 2007 invests more than $10 million in additional funds to support the third phase of the province’s water protection initiatives, improve water management and flood protection, and address recommendations of the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board report.
It makes a commitment for new federal ecoTrust funding for priority projects under Manitoba’s Climate Change Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and grow the green economy.
It also introduces a new 10 per cent Green Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit to encourage new and expanded manufacturing in Manitoba’s green energy sectors and provides support for new climate change legislation that will set out goals to reduce greenhouse gases while contributing to economic development and protecting the environment.
· Moving forward with more education and training opportunities for young people.
Budget 2007 enriches the three-year, $60-million plan for post-secondary education and training, continues the 10 per cent tuition reduction and fully offsets revenue for universities and colleges tying it directly to enrolment for the eighth year in a row.
It implements the 60 per cent tax rebate on tuition fees for all post-secondary graduates who live and work in Manitoba, encouraging youth to put down roots and establish careers in Manitoba, and provides $2 million for key training and skills priorities including apprenticeship training and education in areas of other critical skills shortages.
Budget 2007 also increases support for public schools with a new plan to increase provincial funding to 80 per cent and supports families with new personal tax cuts, beginning with an immediate $125 increase in the Education Property Tax Credit.
· Moving forward with making communities safer including:
fighting crime with 30 additional police officers,
doubling the provincial investment in Manitoba’s Organized Crime Task Force, and
providing additional support for police in schools and after-school programming for kids.
· Moving forward by preserving affordability including:
reducing personal income taxes by $119 million with tax cuts for all Manitobans and a plan to cut middle income taxes by 10 per cent over four years,
phasing out corporate capital tax,
committing to reduce the small business tax rate to one per cent, and
reducing the general corporate income tax rate to 12 per cent in 2009, subject to balanced budget requirements.
· Moving forward with a building agenda including Manitoba’s first-ever, five-year plan for highways and bridges, providing for a record number of projects in every region of the province with an investment of $2 billion.
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