Policies

A Plan For A Better Canadian Economy

It is time for the government to face the challenges that lie ahead of us, not look back at what has been done. For the Progressive Conservative Party, there is no greater priority than putting into action a plan for economic growth. We must keep young Canadians in Canada and give them the opportunities their parents had. It is crucial that we solve the alarming trend that has come to be known as the Canadian "Brain Drain". Canadians today are making less and saving less.

There is a different approach, an approach that requires the government to make the right choices, not the easy ones.

How are we doing right now?

- Canada's unemployment rate is 8.9 %.

- Our youth unemplyement rate jumped to 16.5 % in january 1998

While disposable income (the money left in your pocket after taxes) is declining for Canadians and their families. According to Industry Canada, we now take home 1.3 % less on average than we did in 1993.

Isn't it time you got the govemment's hand out of your wallet?

Taxes And The Brain Drain

Canada has the highest personal income taxes among the G-7 nations (except France). Canadian taxes are so high compared to the U.S. that Canada is in real danger of losing more of our best and brightest to the United States as they seek higher wages and lower taxes.

Losing our young people is a loss not only of the investment made in their education. It is also a significant loss to the Canadian economy because they will no longer buy Canadian goods and services and they will not contribute to support our important social programs. It is a direct blow to our future competitiveness.

Canada needs to stop the brain drain now. In today's global economy, knowledge and expertise are the new international currency. An increasing number of Canadians are finding their career options and standard of living opportunities abroad more appealing than those available to them at home. We can no longer depend on warm feelings to keep our best and brightest in Canada.

Less Taxes And Less Debt Mean More Money In Your Pockets And More Jobs For Canadians

The DCU Plan For Growth

We believe the challenge is to reverse the brain drain trend to make this country more attractive as a place to live and work and contribute. We must give Canada's young professionals an opportunity to succeed right here in Canada. Our plan to lower taxes, allowing workers to keep more of what they earn, will help keep them here.

Canada needs lower taxes now. Taxes in Canada are too high. They penalize initiative, they slow investment that creates jobs and drive it outside Canada, and they encourage high-skilled, entrepreneurial Canadians to seek their future in other countries.

Immediate Initiatives In The DCU Plan For Less Taxes

- "We would start the tax reform process by increasing the basic income tax credit from $6,456 to $10,000 a year, taking two million lower-income workers off the tax rolls and saving money for every taxpayer." DCU Leader T.Slama.

- Reduce personal income tax rates.

- Cut El premiums from $2.70 to $2.00.

- Remove the 3 % deficit reduction surtax.

- Introduce a tax credit of up to 17 % for interest paid on student loans.

- Increase annual RRSP contribution limits now, and change the rules so that low and middle-income workers can save more of their income in RRSPS.

- Make up to $4,000 of Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) contributions tax deductible, and allow part of current RRSPs to be transferred without penalty to RESPs.

Additional DCU Proposals For Tax Relief To Be Phased In

The Fisrt Mesures For Tax Relief

- Index the child tax benefit.

- Index income tax brackets.

- Increase the small business deduction.

- Increase the capital gains exemption.

We believe that the gains made through the personal sacrifices of all Canadians are too important to go unprotected. We propose a balanced budget law with teeth - a law that would reduce the pay of the Prime Minister and Cabinet if the deficit ban were broken. A law that ensures we are never again caught in the spiral of deficits and debt.

DCU Plan For Debt Reduction

We believe that Canada must seize the opportunity to pay down the national debt and establish targets to measure our progress. One-third of any surplus should be devoted to debt reduction. The government must reduce our debt-to-GDP ratio to 60 % by the end of this mandate and to 50 % by 2005. Further, the government should be held to these targets by law, and -just as you do - pay a penalty for running a deficit.

Priorities For Canadians : Health And Education Are Number One

Canadians are clear on the fact that they want a quality health care system for themselves, their children, and their parents. Never has the value of a good education been more critical for the next generation's ability to succeed. Yet this government has slashed the transfers that pay for our health care and education systems by 35 % and continues to find the money to spend on things that make Canadians see red.

While elderly patients go neglected in overcrowded emergency rooms and hospital beds are closing in your community, the government throws money into a canoe museum in the Prime Minister's riding. While the number of students per classroom continues to grow, Sheila Copps can find over $15 million to give away flags. Matching resources to your priorities does not seem to be an importat concern for this government.

We recognize that our health care system is an important priority to Canadians. Our plan would restore the level of public investment needed to provide a Health Care Guarantee that ensures quality services for all Canadians and supports the principles of the Canada Health Act.

Canada needs befter access to higher education now. In 1990, the average debt load of a student borrowing from the Canada Student Loans Program was $9,000 at graduation. Today, that same student has an estimated average debt load of $25,000. Canada is on the path to a being a country in which higher education is a privilege reserved only for the well-to-do.

The Prime Minister likes to point to his recently announced Millennium Scholarship Program as the answer. Unfortunately, solutions for this problem cannot wait for the millennium. Students are hurting now and they need help now.

We believe there is an urgent need to address the issue of access to higher education in this country. Specifically, we would put in place tax credits for interest payments on student loans, a higher proportion of grants to loans, and a shift to income-contingent loan repayment schedules.

Specific Initiatives In The DCU Plan To Help Students

- Introduce a tax credit of up to 17 per cent for interest paid on student loans.

- Award the Millennium Scholarships on the basis of need as well as merit.

- Implement a higher proportion of grants to loans.

- Make the repayment of student loans contingent on income.

- Make up to $4,000 of Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) contributions tax deductible, and allow part of current RRSPs to be transferred without penalty to RESPS.

Specific Initiatives In The DCU Plan For Your Retirement Security

- Increase annual RRSP contribution limits now, and change the rules so that low and middle-income workers can save more of their income in RRSPS.

- Guarantee that the increased value of sheltered funds will not be taxed while in RRSPS.

- Increase allowable foreign content of RRSPs from 20 per cent to 50 per cent, moving to eliminate restrictions by 2001.