NICKEL BELT/GREATER SUDBURY – Following the tabling of the 2021 Federal Budget by the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Finance, MP Marc G. Serré, Member of Parliament for Nickel Belt, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources issued the following statement.

“I would like to thank mayors, stakeholders, organizations and residents who took part in the pre-budget consultations from January 25, 2021 to February 19, 2021. This along with other feedback received over the past year helped shape the path forward and amplified the priorities that are important to residents and businesses. The Fall Economic Statement, consultations and feedback were used as a foundation to enable our government to deliver a robust budget.” Serré began.

“Since the beginning of this pandemic our focus has been delivering concrete support to those in need. Through programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, a boost to income for seniors, a pause on student loans payments and many other measures we’ve been able to help our communities and those most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 like women, Indigenous communities, marginalized communities and more.”

“Canada was in a strong economic position going into this pandemic. It allowed us to focus on what mattered - helping Canadians keep food on the table, offering paid leave for those who become ill, supporting businesses to pivot their operations and keep the doors open and much more. We remain at the table to deliver tangible benefits that will bridge the way into economic recovery. This budget is about finishing the fight against COVID-19 and about healing the wounds left by the COVID-19 recession. It’s about creating more jobs and prosperity for Canadians in the days—and decades—to come. Budget 2021 puts people first by creating jobs, growing the middle class, giving more support to those that need it the most, and helping businesses build back stronger than ever before,” Serré concluded.

Some key investments proposed in Budget 2021 that will bring direct benefits to residents of Nickel Belt and Greater Sudbury include:

• Expand the Canada Workers Benefit to give more support to Canada’s low-wage workers; providing income top-ups to about 1 million more Canadians and lifting nearly 100,000 people out of poverty.
• Establish a $15/hour federal minimum wage.
• Extend EI sickness benefit from 15 - 26 weeks.
• Create nearly 500,000 new training and work experience opportunities for Canadians including 215,000 opportunities for youth.
• $30 billion to establishing a Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system. This plan will aim to reduce fees for parents with children in regulated childcare by 50 per cent on average, by 2022, with a goal of reaching $10 per day on average by 2026.
• $3 billion over the next five years to help provinces strengthen long-term and supportive care across Canada by investing to support improved access and improved data infrastructure to lay a better foundation for coordinated action across the sector.
• providing a one-time payment of $500 in August 2021 to OAS pensioners who will be 75 or over as of June 2022 and introduce legislation to increase regular OAS payments for pensioners 75 years of age and over by 10 per cent on an ongoing basis as of July 2022.
• Renewing the Investment Readiness Program to continue helping charities, non-profits, and other social purpose organizations to develop the necessary skills and capacity to access social finance opportunities.
• Advancements to make FedNor a standalone regional development agency and strengthen the economic development of Northern Ontario.
• $500 million over two years, starting in 2021-22, to the regional development agencies for community infrastructure.
• $4.4 billion to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to help homeowners complete deep home retrofits for greener homes through interest-free loans worth up to $40,000.
• Budget 2021 proposes to provide $121.3 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to Canadian Heritage to make high-quality post-secondary minority-language education available across Canada.
• $5 billion over seven years to the Net Zero Accelerator. This funding would allow the government to provide up to $8 billion of support for good jobs and projects that will help reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions across the Canadian economy.
• $4.1 billion to help make postsecondary education more affordable, and to provide direct support to students with the greatest need.
• $2.4 billion to support the vital role biotechnology innovation is playing in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic while aiming to prepare for future pandemic needs and serves as one of the identified key sectors set to drive the economic recovery for Canada.
• $1 billion in the mental health of Canadians, including veterans and Indigenous people, Budget 2021 proposes to provide $100 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to support projects for innovative mental health interventions.
• Support for small and medium sized businesses through the extension of Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and Lockdown Support Beyond June 2021.

To learn more about Budget 2021, please visit: https://budget.gc.ca/2021/report-rapport/toc-tdm-en.html

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Media Contact:
Kaylie Dudgeon
Special Assistant Marc G. Serré
MP Nickel Belt and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources
705-507-2416 [email protected]