MORE HELP FOR FAMILIES PROMISED

CONSERVATIVES PROMISE
MORE HELP FOR FAMILIES

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced new tax breaks and savings initiatives to expand opportunities for Canadian children.

“Giving working families a break is one of the most important Conservative priorities,” said the Prime Minister. “It is why we have taken bold action to deliver real results to parents and their children.”

Harper announced three new initiatives to help Canadian families:

• Establishing a new Children’s Arts Tax Credit, worth an estimated $150 million annually, to encourage greater participation by children in arts activities.
  
• Extending the benefit of the existing Children’s Fitness Tax Credit and the new Children’s Art Tax Credit to lower-income families that pay little or no income tax, by making both credits fully refundable.
  
• Expanding the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) to allow charities and not-for-profit organizations to establish RESPs for children from low-income families in partnership with parents.

The Prime Minister said that today’s announcement builds on modest, practical, credible and affordable improvements introduced by the Conservative Government since 2006, including:

• Reducing the GST from seven to five per cent.
  
• Introducing a $100 per month Universal Child Care Benefit.
  
• Providing targeted tax cuts for apprentice tools, textbooks and transit passes.

“These new policies will help give a break to working Canadian families,” Harper said. “And they will make arts and fitness programs more accessible to all families, including families where financial costs impose real barriers.”