FRANCAIS

March 06, 2006

Budget 2006 is based on four building blocks:

• $80 million in new personal income and property tax cuts
• One education property tax completely eliminated
• Homeowner savings of $163 on a $150,000 home
• Reduction in farmland school tax increased to 60 per cent
• $17 million in new business tax cuts through multi-year plan
• Business tax reductions to reach $146 million annually
• Personal income and property tax cuts to total $472 million annually

• $148 million summary budget surplus forecast for 2006-07
• Seventh straight balanced budget under balanced budget legislation
• $110 million payment towards debt and pension liabilities
• Manitoba’s first-ever plan to pay down the pension liability on track
• Fiscal Stabilization Fund at $345 million for 2006-07, up $81 million from 1999-00

• Budget is balanced on a summary basis with a forecasted summary balance of $148 million.
• Budget is also balanced for the seventh straight year under balanced budget legislation with a positive balance of $3 million.
• Residential education support levy eliminated, saving Manitobans $34 million this year.
• Middle income tax rate reduced to 13 per cent effective Jan. 1, 2007, and a $100 increase in the basic personal amount, saving Manitobans $32.3 million and removing 2,000 low-income earners from the tax rolls.
• Small business tax rate reduced to three per cent as of Jan. 1, 2007, the second lowest rate in Canada and a cumulative reduction of 63 per cent since 1999.
• Corporate taxes reduced to 14 per cent in July 2007 and 13 per cent in 2008—down from a high of 17 per cent in 1999.
• Corporate capital tax deduction doubled to $10 million from $5 million, reducing the number of firms paying the tax by 19 per cent.
• Phase out of the general corporate capital tax with a 20-per-cent reduction to take effect on July 1, 2008, subject to balanced budget requirements.
• Farmland education tax reduction increased to 60 per cent, saving Manitoba farmers an additional $4.6 million this year.
• A $110-million payment towards general purpose debt and pension liabilities for a total contribution of $704 million over seven years.
• Increases to service fees provided through the Property Registry.
• A $10 increase to marriage licence fees, banns, common-law relationships and the registration of the dissolution, fulfilling the commitment to limit these increases to $10 a year for three years.

• With Budget 2006, Manitoba has seen personal incomes taxes reduced by $291 million, property taxes by $181 million and business taxes by $146 million compared to 1999.
• Efforts to reduce red tape and make it easier for business to succeed are supported.
• Statistics Canada forecasts Manitoba leading the country in investment growth at twice the national growth rate.
• Manitoba’s successful Provincial Nominee program is responsible for 80 per cent of economic immigration to Manitoba and receives the largest share of all provincial nominee landings in Canada.

• Second-lowest unemployment rate in the country at 4.8 per cent.
• Economic growth of 2.9 per cent, in line with national average in 2005.
• A 33-per-cent growth in retail sales over the last five years.
• A 85-per-cent growth in housing starts, one of the best in Canada over the last five years.
• A 30-per-cent real growth in investment in machinery and equipment over five years, almost double the national average.
• $618 million in tax savings for Manitoba families and business since 1999.
• 8,000 immigrants made Manitoba their home in 2005, up from about 3,500 in 1999.

• $32 million through cost-shared agreements for infrastructure priorities such as the Kenaston underpass, Winnipeg’s waste water and treatment upgrade, Brandon’s Keystone Centre, the Parkland’s telecommunications network, Broadband Communications North and other priorities.
• Committing to working in partnership with the federal government and private sector to extend broadband access to 60 remote and Aboriginal communities over the next two years.
• Investing in upgrades including PTH 1 and PTH 75.
• A $7.9-million increase in revenue sharing with municipalities through the Building Manitoba Fund, a unique approach to sharing Manitoba’s income tax and fuel tax revenues.
• Funding the expanded and successful Neighbourhoods Alive! program providing more resources to support neighbourhood revitalization.
• Providing new resources to work with the Aboriginal community to establish a new annual Aboriginal cultural festival.

• Supporting more wind development projects, generating $2 billion in investment and $100 million in wind-rights payments for farmers over the next 10 years.
• Pursuing energy export opportunities with the development of hydroelectric projects such as Wuskwatim and Conawapa in partnership with local communities and First Nations.
• Providing additional support to grow Manitoba’s biodiesel industry.
• Increasing the refundable portion of the manufacturing investment tax credit to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.
• Investing in the BizCoach Manitoba program, connecting successful Manitoba business leaders with new entrepreneurs.
• Supporting world-class research through the Manitoba Centres of Excellence Fund.
• More support for the Industrial Technology Centre.
• A doubling of the capacity of the Manitoba Interactive Media Fund to support small and medium-sized businesses.
• More resources for clean energy development.

• A 30-per-cent increase in funding for water infrastructure projects and doubling funding for drainage.
• A $10 increase to the fee charged by the Water Services Board for technical review of capital projects, making the rate more consistent with the private sector.
• Establishing a new loan program to assist farmers in making economic and environmental improvements to their operations.
• Adding resources for improved drinking water safety initiatives.
• Adding resources to protect lakes and waterways.
• Introducing a variable fee instead of a flat fee for water rights licence applications in order to better reflect the actual costs of reviewing the applications.
• Creating more conservation districts to advance watershed planning.
• Upgrading campgrounds including more yurts and expanding electrical, washroom and shower facilities.
• Increasing the chief place of residency fee by $100 to help further improve provincial park infrastructure.
• Providing additional resources for the First Nations-Manitoba-Ontario UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination.
• Doubling the grant to the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s National Campaign for Conservation to $200,000.
• Providing resources for the Wabanong Nakaygum Okimawin to support community planning along the east side of Lake Winnipeg.
• Actively pursuing the renewal of the federal partnership to complete the Red River Floodway expansion.

• A three-year, $60-million commitment for universities and colleges, the largest commitment ever in Manitoba, representing up to a 17-per-cent increase over the three years.
• Retaining the 10-per-cent tuition reduction for students while fully compensating universities and colleges for the reduction.
• Pursuing a new pan-Canadian partnership on post-secondary education and skills training.
• Providing more resources to expand educational opportunities through the College Expansion Initiative, adult-learning centres and training partnerships with industry to address skills gaps.
• Expanding the Graduate Scholarship and Hope Bursary programs to encourage bright and talented students to stay in Manitoba.
• Introducing a new Co-op Graduate Hiring Incentive to support the employment of co-op education students and extending the Co-op Education Tax Credit to more employers.
• Continuing investments in special needs education.
• More funding for english as an additional language for students with refugee and war-affected backgrounds.
• Providing new resources to improve public library services.
• Increasing funding for public schools by the rate of economic growth, bringing total provincial operating funding to $926 million.

• Creating a new centre of excellence in cardiac surgery at St. Boniface General Hospital.
• Going beyond the national wait-times reduction strategy to focus on additional Manitoba priorities including more pediatric dental surgeries, pain clinic expansion, increased testing for sleep disorders and expanding community mental-health programs.
• Providing a new MRI for Boundary Trails Hospital in the Winkler/Morden area.
• Investing in the redevelopment of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre for those living with acquired brain injury and mental illness.
• Completing the replacement of the entire 160 ambulance fleet.
• Increasing training spots for critical health-care professionals, more spaces for doctors at the University of Manitoba, and more nurses and medical technologists.
• Increasing the pharmacare deductible by $3 to $6 per month for most families.
• Eliminating the retail sales tax on lancets and blood glucose monitors purchased by diabetics.
• Updating licensing requirements for hearing aid dealers through the introduction of new examinations and examination fees.
• $2 million in new annual funding to combat crystal meth and addictions.
  

• An additional $4.5 million from the Building Manitoba Fund including more for transit and roads.
• New $3-million grant for the City of Winnipeg for property assessment costs.
• Increasing Winnipeg’s share of casino revenues to 10 per cent.
• Support for hosting the 94th annual Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup.

• Pledging $50,000 to each of the Right to Play and Kid Sport programs, in the name of Manitoba’s 2006 Olympic athletes.
• Expanding the Healthy Baby program to more community sites and the centres de la petite enfance et familles in francophone schools.
• Providing 1,000 bike helmets to support a new bicycle safety program.
• Creating new healthy food and nutrition guidelines for schools and strengthening curriculum for health and physical education.
• Pursuing the Kelowna accord and working to close the quality-of-life gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
• Dedicating the profits from Waverley West and other suburban housing developments to inner-city housing and community development.
• Providing $7.8 million to help low-income Manitobans dealing with rising shelters costs and providing $13.6 million more for supported living for persons with mental disabilities.
• Increasing community-based family violence prevention efforts and crisis accommodations for vulnerable adults.
• Funding for the four-year, $98-million Aging in Place long-term care strategy for seniors to increase community living supports and provide alternatives to institutional care.
• New children’s physical activity tax credit to parallel the promised federal commitment.

• Adding 31 police positions: 23 for Winnipeg, two for Brandon and six to enhance policing in Aboriginal communities.
• Doubling the successful Gang Prosecution Unit.
• Expanding the gang strategy to focus on community mobilization and intensive supervision and supports for youth at risk.
• Expanding the number of Lighthouses for youth around the province.
• Replacing the aging Women’s Correctional Centre.
• More support for major cultural organization and community festivals.
• Supporting an innovative community financial service centre pilot project to provide affordable and accessible financial services in Winnipeg’s north end.
• Strengthening immigration integration services and more support for ethnocultural community organizations.

• Supporting the $15-million redevelopment of the Keystone Centre.
• Committing to a substantial relocation of the Assiniboine Community College campus to the former Brandon Mental Health Centre site.
• Supporting two additional police officers in Brandon.
• Supporting the new Wellness Centre.

• Committing to working in partnership with the federal government and private sector to extend broadband access to 60 remote and Aboriginal communities over the next two years.
• Supporting the conversion of the community of South Indian Lake into a reserve for Manitoba’s newest First Nation.
• Funding for water treatment plans in Sherridon, Duck Bay, Dawson Bay and Mallard.
• Providing more resources to facilitate Aboriginal participation in mineral resource activities.
• Expanding Aboriginal policing and community justice initiatives.
• Adding a fifth provincial court judge located in northern Manitoba to serve Aboriginal communities.

- 30 -