Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to join all of my colleagues here today to talk about a historic budget delivered by our first female Minister of Finance and, of course, our Deputy Prime Minister. Let me take a moment at the start of my remarks to compliment her on her tremendous work. I am very fortunate to have a youth council in my riding of Kings—Hants that has a number of young leaders who happen to be women, and they look up to her. I know that many other women across the country, and I as a man, look up to the work that she has done. Kudos to her.
I only have 10 minutes and there is a lot in this budget, but I am hoping to highlight some of the initiatives that I am most pleased about as a member of Parliament for Kings—Hants and also as chair of the rural Liberal caucus.
Let me start with the extension of the wage subsidies and the programs that we have put in place to support individuals and businesses through the pandemic. For Canadians who are tuning in, September 25 is the deadline that we have put on extending those measures. This matters for small businesses. This matters for individuals. It really matters to ensure that we have certainty and continuity of programs across the country regardless of where our case levels are. Some places, for example my riding, are quite well off. Others are going through real challenges right now, so a tip of the cap to the government on being able to put those measures in place. I have already heard from small businesses in my riding that are supportive of this measure.
Yesterday's announcement on child care was important. It relates to a national child care plan with $27 billion over the course of the next five years and a commitment to ongoing spending in this domain. What is really important to note is that child care has traditionally been viewed in the realm of very well-intended social policy; however, as we have come to understand what it means, it is an economic driver in the same sense. The Minister of Finance said that yesterday. This type of program matters for parents to be able to get back to the workplace. It matters particularly for women, and it is about creating affordable spaces. I was very pleased to see our ongoing consultation with the provinces and territories get us to the point of $10, on average, a day for affordable daycare and early education for Canadian youth. This is going to have long-term impacts across the country and certainly deserves to be noted.
In the context of Nova Scotia, under our former premier, Stephen McNeil, whom I have great respect for, the provincial government ran an agenda on being fiscally conservative and socially progressive. The province adopted pre-primary, which is along the same lines of thinking that this government is taking. It makes sense and the program pays for itself. We have other models across the country that we can lean on, but I am really proud of the work that we have done in my home province as well.
Affordable housing is a national issue, but I want to give the context of my part of the country. Nova Scotia has one of the lowest COVID case counts in the federation. We are one of the safest places in the world. People from around the world and indeed across our country want to move to Nova Scotia for the quality of life and the many benefits that our province offers. That has also put pressure on our housing market. Right now there are challenges for young people trying to find housing. Renters and individuals are trying to find basically a place to put a roof over their heads.
We have invested $1 billion through the rapid housing initiative, but I was very pleased to see an additional $1.5 billion toward that fund and a commitment of $2.5 billion over the next seven years through CMHC to help support affordable housing. This is going to make a difference in the lives of Canadians and certainly to the people that I represent in Kings—Hants as well.
There is additional income support for seniors. A large proportion of the population that I represent in my riding is made up of seniors, particularly in the rural areas. The increase of 10% in old age security for those who are over age 75 is certainly a welcome investment, and I am very pleased to see that come through. I know many seniors in my riding are going to be pleased to see that.
With regard to the universal broadband fund, those representatives for rural Canada all knew before the pandemic about the importance of connectivity and broadband, whether for schools and children having the opportunity to do course work and homework online, or for banking or entertainment. We are moving to more of a digital society.
To make sure the gap is closed between rural and urban broadband, our government has made historic investments. We had already committed $1.75 billion to the universal broadband fund, and budget 2020-21 commits another $1 billion. We are on track to meet our goal of having 98% of Canadians connected by 2025. This is a good thing, and I want to contrast this with the last government, which put in 10 times less funding than this government has to try to meet these objectives and outcomes. I am proud that we are a government focused in this regard, and as the rural caucus chair I was very pleased to see the Minister of Rural Economic Development have this in her purview and in her tool kit in the days ahead.
I want to talk about the Canada community revitalization fund. I do not want to say it is a rural issue. It is certainly an issue across the country. We know that community gathering spaces are very important. In my riding they are largely driven by non-profit organizations, such as the Lions Club, the local legion and community halls. These are all run by volunteers who put in additional hours at the end of each week to help make a difference in our communities. They have not been able to run their traditional fundraisers to help keep the lights on or put new roofs on buildings. Normally those are pancake breakfasts and bean suppers, and they have not been happening.
This fund was an initiative that I would say was driven by the rural caucus, among others, to put a fund in place that could help support those community spaces and organizations that do tremendous work. A tip of the cap to the organizations in Kings—Hants. This is the type of fund we want to put in place to help support them. I know it will matter far beyond the boundaries of my riding. It will matter across the country, and I suspect other members have looked at this and said it is good public policy as well.
I want to talk about support for our tourism sector. I am sitting in Hants County in the Annapolis Valley, which is one of the most beautiful areas of the country. I know I am biased as the member of Parliament representing the area, but it is home to the highest tides in the world and a growing wine sector. I would invite all colleagues, when it is safe to do so, to please join me and visit Kings—Hants. Tourism is an important sector. In budget 2020-21, there is $500 million to help support tourism through the regional development agencies. It matters to the businesses in my community and indeed across the country. These were certainly mechanisms that I was happy to see in the budget.
As for heritage, we know what culture and sport mean across the country. Through the RDAs, $200 million will go to help support community festivals, such as the Apple Blossom Festival for example, which has been running in my riding since the 1930s. There are a lot of good events that go on. This type of funding is going to help those organizations get through another year until we can perhaps get back to a new normal on the other side of the pandemic.
There is also $100 million in the budget to help support Destination Canada, which gets Canadians to explore their backyards. My fiancé and I had a great opportunity last summer to explore Nova Scotia and the Atlantic provinces. Businesses benefited from this. Of course, this year international travel is going to be unlikely until the vaccine rollout is completed in late September. That funding will be an important mechanism to help support businesses along the way, not to mention the broad supports for small businesses writ large to digitize. As more consumers move online, those mechanisms are going to help main-street businesses to compete. This will make sure they have the tools to adapt to an increasingly digital economy and society.
I will mention two final points. First, as the youngest member of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons, for young Canadians and students we have delivered $6 billion and a whole host of mechanisms that I am not going to have the time to describe, but that are important. Students have been adversely impacted by the pandemic and I am pleased to see the supports there. Second, as a member of Parliament who represents one of the largest agricultural ridings in Atlantic Canada, there are a number of mechanisms to support our agriculture sector, including transitions to a low-carbon economy and incentives to help support our farmers. They are already doing tremendous work, but our government is going to be there to help support them.