News Release

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper promotes tax relief for all Canadians

April 12, 2006
St. John's, NL

At a speech given today to the St. John’s Board of Trade, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the case for broad-based tax relief. The Prime Minister said tax relief must benefit all Canadians.

“To deliver tax relief for all Canadians, the Government will reduce the GST from seven to six percent, and move towards five percent over the course of its mandate.” The Prime Minister went on to note, “A cut to the GST benefits everyone - including those who have modest or low incomes – because it is the one federal tax that everyone pays.”

Prime Minister Harper went on to discuss the additional tax relief measures that Canada’s new Government will introduce over the course of its mandate in keeping with the Conservative platform.

Included among the other measures outlined by the Prime Minister were:

Providing students or their parents with a federal tax credit on spending up to $500 per year on textbooks;

A “Tools Tax Deduction” of up to $500 for the men and women who enter the economically vital trades;

A federal tax credit of up to $500 per year per child for families with children in sporting activities;

And, of particular interest to Newfoundland and Labrador, exempting from capital gains tax the first $500,000 worth of fishing property transferred within a family.

“Hardworking, ordinary Canadians have been over-taxed for far too long,” the Prime Minister said in closing. “In order for Canada to be strong, our country must work for us all. And that is what our Government’s tax relief plan is designed to do.”

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The Prime Minister’s Office - Communications
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