1997 Canadian federal budget

Fourth government spending plan under Paul Martin; first with a surplus since the '60s Budget of the Canadian Federal GovernmentBuilding the Future for Canadians 1997 Canada 1996 Canadian federal budget 1996 1998 Canadian federal budget 1998 18 February 1997 35th Liberal Paul Martin 160.864 billion 157.905 billion $2.959 billionCanada's deficits and surpluses, 1963-2014 http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/canada-deficit/ CBC News CBC/Radio-Canada 25 April 2015 The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 1997–98 was presented by Minister of Finance Paul Martin in the House of Commons of Canada on 18 February 1997.19 February 1998 La Presse http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2183430 live https://web.archive.org/web/20200623085639/http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2183430 2020-06-23 2020-06-17 numerique.banq.qc.ca It is the last budget of the 35th Canadian Parliament and the last budget before the 1997 Canadian federal election. The budget's unofficial subtitle is Building the Future for Canadians (and for the first time the subtitle is used on the cover page of all budget documents).Budget plan 1 Taxes Personal income taxes The budget focused on increased support for education, healthcare and childcare-related expenses.Budget plan 179-181 Tax measures for students Indefinite carry-forward for Tuition and Education Tax Credit for all tax credits incurred in 1997 and after; Increase in the Education Tax Credit: from $100 annually in 1996 to $150 in 1997 and $200 in 1998 and subsequent years; The list of expenses eligible for the tuition tax credit is expanded to include mandatory ancillary fees (except student association fees); The first $500 of scholarship or bursary income is exempted from income taxes; Registered education savings plan yearly contribution limit to be doubled from $2,000 to $4,000 per beneficiary. Tax measures for persons with disabilities Some new categories expenses incurred by persons with disabilities are made eligible for the medical expense tax credit; The $5,000 limit on the attendant care deduction is repealed; Disabled persons will be allowed to deduct the entirety of the expenses incurred (and not only the first $5,000) up to 2/3 of their earned income. Working Income Supplement enhancement The Working Income Supplement (WIS) is vastly enhanced by the budget: + Working Income Supplement enhancementBudget Implementation Act, 1997 s. 80 Pre-budgetBudget plan 192 Post-budgetStarting July 1, 1997Budget Implementation Act, 1997 s. 80(4) Maximum benefit$500 $750 starting July 1997 $1,000 starting July 1998 $605 for the first child + $405 for the second child + $330 for the third and each subsequent child Phase-in startincome level$3,750 Maximum benefitincome level$10,000–$20,921 Phase-out startincome level$20,921 Phase-outreduction rate10% 12.1% for one-child families 20.2% for two-child families 26.8% otherwise Phase-out completeincome level$25,921 Corporate income taxes Some technical changes were made to corporate income taxes, mostly to increase revenues:Budget plan 201-204 Transfer pricing guidelines were reviewed in line with the principles set out by the OECD; The Investment Tax Credit is denied for expenses that have not been reported within 12 months after the filing due date of the year in which the expenses were incurred; This change extends to ITC the restriction introduced by the 1994 Canadian federal budget for the deduction of SR&ED expenses. Other taxes The temporary capital tax surcharge on large banks is extended by a year until 31 October 1998.Budget plan 205 The budget also proposes to allow small businesses to remit withholding amounts (income taxes, Employment Insurance premiums and Canada Pension Plan contributions) on a quarterly basis if their average monthly withholding is less than $1,000 and their file presents no compliance irregularities.Budget plan 183 Expenditures Marcel Massé, President of the Treasury Board, tabled the 1997-98 Main Estimates on 20 February 1997, outlining the government's spending plan for the year ending 31 March 1998.Beauchesne Eric Ottawa spending continues to fall The Canadian Press Waterloo Region Record 21 February 1997 The budget planned for a 2.9% decrease in program expenses over 1996-97 with $103.2 billion set aside in the budget and another $2.8 billion to be allocated through a supplementary budget sometime in the year.Treasury Board Treasury Board of Canada On Track - Program Spending under control Government of Canada http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/19971998/nr0220e.asp https://web.archive.org/web/20030903012658/http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/19971998/nr0220e.asp Ottawa en 1997 3 September 2003 Including the $46 billion interest expense on the national debt, the Main Estimates totals $149,555,320,000 in spending for the 1997-98 fiscal year, an $8 billions decline versus the preceding fiscal year.Extract from Part I of the Main Estimates Several transfers and departments were affected by cuts: Department of National Defence faced $638 million in budget cuts, mainly attributable to the cancellation of the EH-101 helicopter project; The Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) was cut by a further $2.5 billion; Equalization payments were cut by a further $504 million. Reactions Bernard Landry, Deputy premier of Quebec and Minister of Finance, severely criticized the Martin budget as an electoralist and cynical budget. He pointed out that the budget planned for $1.4 billion in cuts for the CHST and set aside funds for actions in areas of provincial jurisdiction (notably health and childcare). He also regretted that the budget did not set aside a compensation for the harmonization of the Quebec Sales Tax with the federal GST, for which he asked a $1.9 billion compensation.Cloutier Mario Un budget cynique et électoraliste, selon Landry https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2767670 Le Devoir 19 February 1997 A5 fr Lucien Bouchard, Premier of Quebec, expressed a similar opinion, saying that the budget was hypocritical, bordering on dishonesty.Gagnon Katia Pas dupe La Presse 21 February 1997 B1 fr Ernie Eves, Ontario's Minister of Finance, expressed mixed feelings: he welcomed the deficit reduction effort of the federal government but regretted that Paul Martin chose not to cut income taxes or Employment insurance premiums.Brennan Richard Opportunity lost for tax cut: Eves Waterloo Region Record 19 February 1997 A6 en Legislative history Most changes announced in the budget were included in the omnibus Budget Implementation Act, 1997 which received royal assent on 27 April 1997 after being adopted by the House of Commons on third reading on 22 April 1997 by 109 votes for versus 51 against (Reform, NDP and Bloc MPs). No Progressive-Conservative MPs voted on the bill.Debates - April 22, 1997. House of Commons. Four days after the budget passed, Chretien dissolved parliament and called for an election to be held on June 2nd. References 33em Official documents Budget documents Department of Finance Budget Plan - Including Supplementary Information and Notices of Ways and Means Motions 18 February 1997 Government of Canada Ottawa 0660168642 10 April 2023 https://budget.gc.ca/pdfarch/budget97/binb/bp/bp97e.pdf Budget plan Budget Speech Budget in Brief Enacted legislations Budget Implementation Act, 1997 An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 18, 1997 S.C. 1997 26 https://www.parl.ca/Content/Bills/352/Government/C-93/C-93_4/C-93_4.pdf Budget Implementation Act, 1997 1997 Canada Category:1997 in Canadian politics Budget, 1997 Budget, 1997 Budget, 1997 Category:February 1997 in Canada