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Yukon MP Brendan Hanley

MP, premier critique new federal budget

Yukon MP Brendan Hanley has highlighted items in the new $490 billion federal budget he believes will benefit the territory, as well as other regions of the country.

By Whitehorse Star on March 30, 2023

Yukon MP Brendan Hanley has highlighted items in the new $490 billion federal budget he believes will benefit the territory, as well as other regions of the country.

The federal health plan will improve public health care for Canadians by reducing backlogs, expanding access to family health services, and modernizing the health care system, he said Tuesday.

“This year’s budget reflects our challenging times, while addressing key priority areas for Canada and for the Yukon,” he said.

“At such a critical time in our country’s history, I’m pleased to see investments in health care, affordability measures, and in our clean economy.”

The Yukon’s share of the federal health plan is $380 million over 10 years, of which $195 million is new funding.

Nationally and territorially, there is:

• $15 million in ongoing bilateral agreements in home care and mental health and long-term care;

• $171 million relative to 2022-23 levels through the Canada Health Transfer;

• $2 million CHT top-up in 2022-23 to address urgent pressures in emergency rooms, operating rooms, and pediatric hospitals;

• $20 million through the CHT five per cent guarantee;

• $73 billion through tailored bilateral agreements; and

• $100 million through the Territorial Health Investment Fund.

Once there is an agreement in principle, Health Canada negotiates bilateral agreements. For the CHT five per cent guarantee, jurisdictions must also meet the federal health information conditions.

The Canadian Dental Care Plan will provide dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with an annual family income of less than $90,000, with no co-pays for those with family incomes under $70,000.

Details on eligible coverage will be released later this year. The Yukon government is awaiting those details to determine how the federal initiative will dovetail with the recently-announced territorial dental plan.

Budget 2023 proposes to provide $13 billion over five years, starting in 2023-24, and $4.4 billion ongoing to Health Canada to implement the Canadian Dental Care Plan.

The budget proposes $45.9 million over four years, with $11.7 million ongoing, to expand the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness program for doctors and nurses to more rural communities, including all communities with populations of 30,000 or fewer.

Currently, eligible communities with a population over 30,000 will remain eligible until the 2026 Census.

Hanley also noted the budget funds a range of initiatives to improve access to harm reduction and treatment services, prevent substance use among young people, and take further actions to tackle drug trafficking.

There is $359.2 million over five years nationally, including $144 million over five years for the Substance Use and Addictions Program, which supports community-led and not-for-profit organizations to respond to drug and substance use issues across Canada.

The budget contains $810 million to support medical travel under the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program for First Nations. There’s also $5.5 billion for primary care and public care on reserves and distinctions-based mental health supports.

Budget 2023 also proposes to introduce a Grocery Rebate, Hanley pointed out.

For 9,000 low- and modest-income individuals and families in the Yukon, the rebate would provide eligible couples with two children with up to an extra $467, and single Canadians without children with up to an extra $234.

About $2 million of targeted inflation relief would be provided in the territory, Hanley has calculated.

The budget enhances student financial assistance in the 2023 school year (Aug. 1, 2023-July 31, 2024), including a 40 per cent increase to the Canada Student Grants.

That provides full-time students with up to $4,200 – and an increase in the interest-free Canada Student Loan limit from $210 to $300 per week.

aThe requirement for mature students aged 22 or older to undergo credit screening to access student grants and loans would also be waived for the coming year.

In the Yukon, approximately 300 post-secondary students with financial need would be eligible to receive up to $14,400 in the 2023 school year, in addition to YG support.

To address gaps in Employment Insurance support between seasons, the federal government introduced temporary rules in 2018 to provide up to five additional weeks – for a maximum of 45 weeks – for eligible seasonal workers in 13 economic regions. This support will expire in October 2023.

The budget sets out $4 billion over seven years, starting in 2024-25, to implement a codeveloped, Indigenous-led Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.

It will complement previous investments in distinctions-based housing strategies to ensure that Indigenous Peoples, no matter where they live in Canada, have access to safe and affordable housing, Hanley noted.

Regional funding allocations and delivery mechanisms will be determined at a later date once a codeveloped Strategy has been finalized.

As well, financial institutions will be able to start offering the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account (FHSA) to Canadians as of April 1.

The FHSA is a new registered plan to give prospective first-time home buyers the ability to save $40,000 on a tax- free basis. Like a Registered Retirement Savings Plan, contributions are tax-deductible, and withdrawals to purchase a first home—including from investment income—will be non-taxable, like a Tax-Free Savings Account.

Tax-free in; tax-free out. It’s estimated that the FHSA would provide $725 million in support over five years.

The new fiscal blueprint introduces a 15-per-cent refundable tax credit for eligible investments in non-emitting electricity generation systems, abated natural gas-fired electricity generation systems, stationary electricity storage systems, and equipment for the transmission of electricity between provinces and territories.

Taxable and non-taxable entities such as Crown corporations and publicly owned utilities, corporations owned by Indigenous communities, and pension funds would be eligible for the tax credit.

It’s expected to cost $6.3 billion over four years starting in 2024-25, and an additional $19.4 billion from 2028-29 to 2034-35. It will not be available after 2034.

The budget provides funding to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency to renew and increase support for Indigenous and public participation in efficient northern environmental assessment processes.

Proposed is $21 million over five years, starting in 2023-24.

This includes $19.4 million over five years to renew and enhance Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada’s Northern Participant Funding Program, and $1.6 million over two years to supplement capacity within the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency’s Northern Projects Management Office.

Indigenous governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals may submit applications for funding through the Northern Participant Funding Program for various activities in support of their participation in northern environmental and regulatory assessment processes.

There may also be support for the proposal to bring electricity to the territory from Atlin, B.C., to reduce the winter time reliance on diesel generators. The budget mentions the project in association with an electrification program and potential tax credits.

A key proponent, the Tlingit Homeland Energy Limited Partnership (THELP), said in 2022 the cost of the project has risen to $310 million, up from $230 million, due in part to inflation supply chain and complications.

Premier Ranj Pillai said Wednesday the budget includes “significant new investments for health care, and I am pleased that it confirms the renewal of the Territorial Health Investment Fund for a 10-year period.

“The budget also takes steps towards improving affordability for Canadians, supporting critical minerals development and addressing Indigenous housing needs.”

He said YG shares the federal government’s vision on transitioning toward a clean economy and supporting renewable energy.

“Yet, we will need further details to understand how Budget 2023 measures address the identified financial need for the Atlin Hydroelectric Expansion Project,” Pillai said.

“Finally, we want to count on federal support for a made-in-Yukon response to the substance use health emergency, building on initiatives already underway in the territory. We are encouraged by the announcement of funding towards a renewed Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy.

“We will work with the federal government over the coming days and weeks to discuss specific details about these initiatives and how they can be implemented in a way that supports Yukon priorities,” the premier said.

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