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.
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