Mr. Speaker, this truly is a watershed budget for Canadians. After seven years of sacrifice, of seeing treasured programs reduced and bracket creep eat up more and more of their family incomes, Canadians finally can see the benefits of the long period of restraint which has addressed our overspending, which has produced two surplus budgets in a row. It is finally providing the kind of tax relief and reinvestment in our social programs and the future of our economy that Canadians want to see to create a better future for their children.
I was privileged during the course of the discussions leading up to the 2000 budget to have the benefit of significant and important input from my constituents in Ottawa West—Nepean. In the fall we held a prebudget consultation meeting and I was very pleased that there was lively and well-informed discussion. The discussion focused not only on the long term and short term interests of individuals in my constituency but just as important, the long term interests of all Canadians.
We also distributed a survey during our door to door visits last summer and throughout the fall, at various meetings and in my fall householder. There was a very impressive response. I want to refer to that prebudget survey which was done in Ottawa West—Nepean and then talk about how the budget has responded to the concerns expressed by my constituents.
Very clearly the top priority of more than one-third of the respondents was personal tax reductions. The government has responded. The second most important priority was health care. The government, notwithstanding the comments of the member from the Bloc, has responded. People were also concerned about the environment and the need to invest in new environmental solutions. The government has responded.
The largest employer in this region now is not the federal government. It is the high tech sector. People were concerned about investment in research, science and technology. The government has responded.
Since we were able to start tax relief in the 1998 budget, we have focused most on low and middle income Canadians. We have focused on families with children and the deindexing of tax brackets, reducing the tax rate for the middle income bracket, raising the amount of basic income that is exempt from income tax, raising the level of the middle and top tax brackets and eliminating the 5% surtax.
All of this will lead to a 15% reduction, on average, for all Canadians, which does not include the benefits of the tax reductions in the last budget, 18% for low and middle income families and over 20% for families with children. All in all, more than nine million Canadians will see a reduction in their taxes just by changing the middle income tax rate.
There were some tax measures as well that were important to this region and to the high technology sector. In the telecommunications area, 75% of the activity in that sector happens in the national capital region. It will be of particular interest to that sector of the economy that the tax rate for service and high tech industries will drop from 28% to 21% over the next five years, with the first reduction kicking in by January 1, 2001.
The treatment of stock options, which is a major component of compensation for many in the high tech sector, has changed, so that they become taxable only when sold. That is a measure which the high tech sector has requested for some time in the interests of keeping and retaining highly qualified employees in that industry.
The other important measure to stimulate investment in small start-up companies is the rollover of $500,000 which is now permitted. Money which has been invested can now be rolled over into a new investment without incurring any capital gains. That will be a major generator for investment in somewhat high risk but nonetheless extremely important new initiatives in the high technology sector.
We are also supporting the foundation that feeds those new and growing sectors of the economy which will be producing an increasing proportion of jobs by funding 2,000 research chairs across Canada. We are ensuring that the basic research necessary to keep our economy innovative, growing and providing new opportunities for the next generation will continue.
The investment we have made in this budget in education by allowing people to receive far more support for their education tax free, from $500 up to $3,000, will make it easier for more young people to get a post-secondary education.
The fact that we are putting more money into the Canada Foundation for Innovation is another important investment in the future of our economy and employment for Canadians. I should mention that one initiative of that foundation is its investment in the newly launched National Capital Institute of Telecommunications in this region.
Lest anyone think that the only concern is money, dollars and cents, it is not. Canadians are concerned about health care. Notwithstanding what the Bloc member just said, she should acknowledge that the transfers to the provinces for health, post-secondary education and social services has increased by 25% in the last two budgets. We know that is to make up for cuts which had to be made to get our finances in order, but notwithstanding what some of the provinces are saying, 33% of all public spending in health care is by the federal government. That is a fairly significant increase and a significant contribution to an area that is primarily a provincial responsibility.
I want to leave time for my colleague to speak, with whom I will be splitting my time, so I will only mention very briefly what I think is an equally important contribution, and that is the $700 million that will be committed over the next three years for major environmental initiatives. There will be $210 million over three years for green energy development and the climate change action fund, and $100 million for a new sustainable development technology fund which will help companies develop new environmental technologies and bring them to market. This will accomplish two things for Canada and the rest of the world: finding solutions to environmental problems and finding them in a way that will also benefit the Canadian economy. There will be $100 million for a new green municipal investment fund, a revolving fund that will leverage private sector investment in such areas as waste management and water conservation at the municipal level, as well as $90 million over three years for a national strategy on species at risk.
I can only conclude that this is a well balanced budget. It meets the needs of Canadians, their expectations for tax relief after a number of years of very stringent financial and economic measures, and it also invests very clearly in a better future and quality of life for all Canadians.