The 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update
An Enhanced Quality of Life

October 18, 2000

The 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update is the next step in our long-term, balanced plan to enhance our shared prosperity and our shared quality of life.

Ours is a smart, focused plan that strikes the right balance in terms of paying down debt, cutting taxes substantially and fairly, boosting research and innovation, and making investments that enhance our quality of life: in health care, children, education and protecting our environment.

The Health Action Plan

The 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update reaffirms our unanimous agreement with the provinces and territories on a new Health Action Plan, that will see $21.2 billion in new investments by the government over the next 5 years to renew health care.

Some $2.3 billion of this will be invested in three priority areas:

• $1 billion will be provided to the provinces to purchase much-needed diagnostic equipment like MRIs and CAT scanners;
• $800 million will be invested in speeding up access to the most recent innovations in frontline health care services; and,
• $500 million will be invested to improve health care services through the application of new information technology.

Under the Health Action Plan, all governments have agreed to account to Canadians for the way in which their tax dollars are spent on health care.

Children

The 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update reaffirms the $2.2 billion that the government will invest over the next 5 years to in early childhood development – to ensure that all Canadian children get the good start they need in life through such priorities as:

• Support for mothers and their children during pregnancy, birth and early infancy;
• Improved parenting and family supports such as resource centres, parent information and home visits;
• Strengthened early childhood development learning and care – so that children enter school ready to learn; and,
• Community support measures, such as parent child activity programs, streetproofing programs and family-friendly businesses and communities

This initiative builds on other bold investments that our government has made to support Canadian families, such as:

• The Canada Child Tax Benefit – through which the Government of Canada invests some $6 billion in support to low and modest-income Canadian families; and,
• Doubling the length of maternity and parental benefits under Employment Insurance.

The Environment

The 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update provides an additional $500 million in investments to combat climate change and air pollution. This brings to $1.2 billion the amount we have invested this year alone in new environmental initiatives.