Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Minister of Finance on an excellent budget, a budget which is good for Atlantic Canada and for Newfoundland and Labrador in particular.
The budget honours our commitment to reduce the GST and to provide a truly universal child care benefit of $1,200 for each child under the age of six. It keeps our commitment to seniors by doubling the pension income deduction to $2,000 and will ultimately raise the basic personal exemption to $10,000.
In my province the budget's tax relief measures will put an extra $124 million in the pockets of our people. The new child care benefit will put an extra $34 million in the hands of families in our province. It will provide up to $16 million for university infrastructure and nearly $10 million in gas tax revenues for our municipalities.
Yes, it is a good budget that provides real tax relief and it puts real money in the pockets of our people.