Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have a few minutes to speak to the budget debate and say that I think it was an excellent budget. There are a lot of important things in the budget that will help us continue to build this country of ours. I chaired the Prime Minister's task force on urban issues and there were a variety of things, I think 28 different points in the budget that came out of the recommendations from our task force of 11 MPs and two senators.
One of the issues that came out of it we are speaking to today which is to amend the RRSP dollar limit and the RPP money purchase limit. People are trying to save for their future and to put more money aside for retirement and in case they fall ill later on in life, and increasing the RRSP limits allows that to happen. Aside from allowing that to happen it encourages people to save. The RRSP limits have long been at $13,500 and gradually they are going to be increased to $18,000 by 2005.
If we look at other countries which have this kind of program, they often have much higher increases than that and they are very good at encouraging people to save money. Setting appropriate limits on tax assisted retirement savings in RPPs, RRSPs and DPSPs is an important means of encouraging and assisting Canadians to save for retirement, reducing their tax burden on savings and in allowing employers to attract and retain key personnel.
The motions that we are discussing today would eliminate those improvements to the system that we are trying to promote as a government but would also reverse the increases that were scheduled to take effect next year under the existing income tax law and on which Canadians depend. As the task force did its round tables throughout the country over the 18 month period, we heard a lot from different people about the things that are needed to have a successful country. A variety of tax changes were promoted at that time. Some of them are in this budget which I am very pleased to comment on.
One of the other issues that was raised was the federal capital tax and how that was very much an impediment to investment in Canada. When it was compared to the U.S. and to other countries that encourage investment at a capital level, there were some significant problems with the fact that we did not encourage it in Canada and it was thought that we should. In order to promote investment, the 2003 budget proposed to eliminate the federal capital tax over seven years starting in January 2004. Clauses 85 and 86 of Bill C-28 would implement this proposal by increasing the threshold for application of the federal capital tax from $10 million to $50 million of capital for taxation years ending after 2003.
Under the bill the federal capital tax liability would be eliminated for almost 5,000 medium size corporations in 2004. The federal capital tax would be fully eliminated by 2010. With this and with the $100 million in tax cuts that is being promoted over this five year period, the government will seriously assist Canadian businesses and help to continue to move us forward with the very strong and effective economy that we currently have.
Another issue we are talking about with the amendments today is the disability tax credit. It has been mentioned by several people and is something that is really important. One of the members from Toronto who heads up the disability subcommittee has done an enormous amount of work with other members in the House trying to review the CPP legislation and how it affects people with disabilities and what we can do as parliamentarians to improve that whole program. As we are an aging population, more and more people are having to rely on CPP disability for assistance for themselves and their families and they are finding it very difficult.
Motion No. 14, which we will be voting on, would delete clause 74 from the bill. This clause provides that a medical doctor or an occupational therapist may certify an individual's impairment with respect to feeding or dressing themselves for the purposes of establishing entitlement to the disability tax credit.
The Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities recommended that the ambiguity about “and” or “or” be corrected. Accordingly clause 74 clarifies that an individual need not be impaired in both feeding and dressing but feeding or dressing would suffice. Many people have a problem with a disability of one or the other and not both.
Motion No. 15 would also delete clause 75 of the bill, another area that we needed to look at to see how we could assist people. Following consultations on draft amendments the 2003 budget proposed to rework the language of the proposed amendments to clarify again that feeding oneself does not include any of the activities of identifying, finding, shopping for, or other activities associated with preparing food. This aspect of the legislation is extremely important. It means that individuals who are markedly restricted in their ability to prepare a meal for reasons other than a dietary restriction will continue to be eligible for that disability tax credit.
It is also noted that these amendments were developed only after consultations with many of the affected groups. Many of these groups have ongoing discussions with the disability subcommittee.
In addition to Motion No. 13 and clause 64 affecting school boards, this is as a result of a recent court decision. It is not because we want to be difficult. It is simply because of a court decision affecting school boards that as a result is contrary to the longstanding well understood policy intention of the GST law. It is not that our finance minister woke up and decided that he was going to be mean and difficult to school boards.
Building this country is extremely difficult. It requires a lot of investment. I am proud to say that of the $3 billion that was put into the strategic investment fund in this budget we are speaking to, $2 billion of that is going to be there clearly to build the infrastructure of the country. There is an enormous void in having enough dollars to build water and sewer systems, bridges and so on in the country. This brings it to a total of $8.25 billion that has been put aside since the year 2000 strictly for infrastructure in Canada.
When that levers money from the province and the cities in matching funds, it brings it to $24 billion since 2000 that has been put on the table throughout the country, through all levels of government to ensure that the infrastructure of Canada is clearly there to help us move forward. One billion dollars of that has been put aside for the smaller municipalities so that they can access that for many of the areas in their communities where they have difficulty relying on a tax base. It is investments in our large urban centres, but it is also investments in the smaller communities.
Some $2 billion over five years has gone into advancing sustainable development. This will help us look at new technology, at a variety of things such as alternative fuels, things that tie in to the Kyoto protocol. It will help us focus on those investments to improve air quality, better assess and manage toxic substances, and further protect our species at risk and support implementation of Canada's commitment at the world summit on sustainable development.
There is $600 million over five years to upgrade, manage and monitor water and waste water systems on reserves.
I would hope that some of the lessons we learned from Walkerton will clearly show that we have to ensure that our municipalities have the dollars needed to invest in the infrastructure that helps us to move forward. On investments in supporting our skills and learning programs, there is $100 million for the creation of the proposed Canadian learning institute.
It is a good budget. There is a lot of money going into programs. We are continuing with our five year tax reduction plan. We are continuing to support families and our national child benefit program. We are encouraging savings and moving forward in a variety of ways. The strengthening of Canada's military again is important for all of us, as is enhancing Canada-U.S. trade.
This is a good budget. There are a lot of areas that we want to continue to build on. I am glad I had a chance to speak to it.