News Release

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

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PRIME MINISTER HARPER WRITES PREMIER LORNE CALVERT ON PLAN TO RESTORE FISCAL BALANCE IN CANADA

March 19, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today wrote Premier Lorne Calvert to outline the benefits for Saskatchewan in the fiscal balance plan set out in Budget 2007.

The plan announced today is based on national principles, while treating each province fairly and meeting the government's commitments.

Prime Minister Harper's letter highlighted the following issues:

Our Equalization plan fully meets our commitments on the exclusion of natural resource revenues.

Our plan also provides Saskatchewan with protection from any decline in its Canada Social Transfer and Canada Health Transfer payments as a result of the move to equal per capita cash.

Saskatchewan will also benefit from our formula for allocating infrastructure transfers. This provides all jurisdictions with floor funding of $25 million per year, in recognition of the particular challenges facing provinces and territories with smaller populations.

Prime Minister Harper concluded that "I listened carefully to your views on these issues, and assure you and the people of Saskatchewan that our plan delivers important and lasting benefits to them. Indeed, Saskatchewan receives the highest per capita benefits of any province under our plan in 2007-08."

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The Prime Minister's Office - Communications
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