CALGARY, AB, April 12, 2023 /CNW/ – Today the Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Hon. Lawrence MacAulay met with the IBEW in Calgary to highlight Budget 2023’s investments in sustainable jobs and a clean economy.
Canada has made a remarkable recovery from the COVID recession. Canada’s economic growth was the strongest in the G7 over the last year, and today, 830,000 more Canadians are employed than before the pandemic, including 128,600 here in Alberta. Inflation in Canada has fallen for eight months in a row, our unemployment rate is near its record low, and, supported by our Canada-wide system of affordable early learning and child care, the labour force participation rate for women aged 25 to 54 reached at a record high of 85.7 per cent in February.
Budget 2023 builds on this important progress.
To build Canada’s clean economy, the budget makes transformative investments to fight climate change and create new opportunities for Canadian businesses and workers. This includes significant measures that will deliver cleaner and more affordable energy, support investment in our communities, and create good-paying jobs.
To make life more affordable, Budget 2023 delivers the new Grocery Rebate, offering targeted inflation relief for 11 million Canadians and families who need it most with up to an additional $467 for eligible couples with children; an additional $234 for single Canadians without children; and an additional $225 for seniors, on average. The government is also taking action to crack down on junk fees and predatory lending, lower credit card transaction fees for small businesses, and help Canadians keep more money in their pockets.
To strengthen Canada’s universal public health care system, the budget delivers $198.3 billion, including $25.096 billion here in Alberta to reduce backlogs, expand access to family health services, and ensure provinces and territories can provide the high quality and timely health care Canadians expect and deserve. Budget 2023 also introduces a new Canadian Dental Care Plan, to help up to nine million Canadians and ensure no Canadian has to choose between taking care of their health and paying the bills at the end of the month.
With a responsible fiscal plan that will see Canada maintain the lowest deficit and the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, Budget 2023 will help to build a Canada that is more secure, more sustainable, and more affordable for people from coast to coast to coast.
“Budget 2023 provides targeted support and tax credits for clean technology. This support will not only help us reduce our emissions, it will also help create good paying jobs right across Canada. Unions like IBEW, and their members, are playing an important role in helping us transition into the Green Economy of tomorrow.”
Hon. Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of Defence
“Canada’s Sustainable Jobs Plan and Budget 2023 clearly lay the foundation for the path forward towards net-zero, while making sure no worker is left behind. Workers are at the foundation of the Sustainable Jobs Plan – it outlines support for clean energy projects that will create new union jobs, provide training and apprenticeship opportunities to Canadians across the country in areas such as renewable energy production, expanding our electrical grid, clean tech, deep building retrofits, and growing our electrical vehicle charging station infrastructure, all of which are creating good jobs for IBEW members.”
Brad Dougherty, Business Manager, IBEW 254
- Budget 2023: A Made-in-Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future
- Budget 2023: Address by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
- Backgrounder: Stronger Public Health Care
- Backgrounder: Making Life More Affordable
- Backgrounder: An Affordable Place to Call Home
- Backgrounder: A Made-in-Canada Plan: Affordable Energy, Good Jobs, and a Growing Clean Economy
- Backgrounder: Advancing Reconciliation
- Backgrounder: Stronger and More Inclusive Communities
- Backgrounder: Improving Service Delivery
SOURCE Veterans Affairs Canada