Did You Know...? - Edition 9

September 18, 2009

That… the Canadians are encouraged to wear red every Friday to show support for the men and women of Canada’s Armed Forces. Red Fridays are a grassroots effort that encourages Canadians to wear red on Fridays as a symbolic gesture to show fellow Canadians and our troops that we care and honour those who fought for our freedom, our peace and our resolve.  The goal is to show non-partisan support for Canada’s military troops. The movement was started in Spring 2006 by the spouses of two soldiers posted to CFB Petawawa.  For more information visit:  www.redfridays.ca

That… the Liberal Party voted against key tax measures in our Economic Action Plan today.
They voted against the recession-fighting Home Renovation Tax Credit that’s helping not just homeowners, but everyone from lumber producers to construction workers, as well as hardware and home building supply stores. Other important measures that are crucial to helping Canadians cope with the effects of the global recession include the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit to assist first-time homebuyers with the costs associated with buying a home, such as legal fees; the enhanced Working Income Tax Benefit to help ensure low-income workers are better off financially by remaining or becoming employed; the extended tax deferral available to farmers in drought and flood regions to help farmers cope with extreme weather conditions; and tariff relief to make it easier for Canadian businesses to import and export goods by improving the rules on temporary cargo containers.  

That… the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Hon. Rob Nicholson, announced this week that the government plans to introduce legislation to fight white collar crime, an issue that this government takes very seriously. We will create a mandatory jail sentence for serious fraud, add aggravating factors to justify longer sentences, and require courts to consider restitution orders.

That… the ecoENERGY for Renewable Power program is providing about $1.48 billion to increase Canada's supply of clean electricity from renewable sources such as wind, biomass, hydro, geothermal, solar and ocean energy.  This program is part of the Government of Canada’s $3.9-billion ecoENERGY initiatives. The program is expected to encourage the production of up to 4,000 megawatts of new electricity from renewable energy sources — enough electricity to power about one million homes. In addition, by displacing fossil-fuel generation, this program will lead to avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution equivalent to taking one million cars off the road.

That… the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, the Honourable Diane Finley, tabled legislation to help long-time workers who lost their jobs because of the global recession. These measures will help ensure that these long tenured workers who have paid into the EI system for years are provided the help they need while they search for new employment.
Our government will provide from five to 20 weeks of additional benefits, depending on how long an eligible individual has been working and paying into EI. This temporary measure, which builds on those introduced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan, would be phased out gradually as the economy improves.