Related documents:
Backgrounder - Energy Cost Benefit
Backgrounder - Fiscal Impact of Government's Response to Higher Energy Costs
Energy Relief:
Helping Canadians Deal with High Energy Costs
Minister of Finance Ralph Goodale, Acting Minister of Natural Resources
John McCallum, Minister of Industry David L. Emerson, Minister of
Labour and Housing Joe Fontana and Minister of the Environment Stéphane
Dion today announced a package of short-term and longer-term measures to
help Canadians deal with high energy costs.
The Ministers presented a plan to act on three fronts:
providing timely and direct financial assistance to low-income seniors
and low-income families with children;
helping families lower their future household heating costs
by making their homes more energy-efficient and fast-tracking money
to municipalities for investments in public transit-moves that will
bring lasting environmental benefits over the longer term; and
enhancing market transparency and accountability.
"This comprehensive approach provides timely, short-term relief to
millions of low-income Canadians while also setting the stage for a
more energy-efficient future," said Minister Goodale.
The Government introduced legislation in Parliament this morning to
implement these measures.
Direct Payments to Low-Income Families and Low-Income Seniors
Payments under the proposed Energy Cost Benefit will be:
$250 to families entitled to receive the National Child
Benefit (NCB) supplement in January 2006;
$250 to senior couples where both spouses are entitled to
receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) in January 2006; and
$125 to single seniors entitled to receive the GIS in January
2006.
About 3.1 million payments totalling $565 million will be sent.
"Delivering payments to this many families and individuals poses a
number of challenges, but we are taking steps to ensure that timely relief
is delivered to Canadians in need," said Minister Goodale.
Promoting Energy Efficiency, Conservation and Innovation
Minister McCallum, Minister Fontana and Minister Dion announced a number
of measures to provide greater protection against future price volatility
and achieve lasting environmental benefits by making homes and other
buildings more energy-efficient.
"Making our homes and buildings more energy-efficient is a key way for
Canadians to offset higher energy prices. The incentives we are providing
will help Canadians save energy and money, and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions that contribute to climate change," said Minister McCallum.
"These measures also support Project Green-the Government of Canada's
broad environmental vision that links our economic competitiveness and
prosperity to a sustainable future. These new initiatives will enable
consumers to make more energy-efficient choices to help reduce energy use
and costs, while reducing greenhouse gases and helping our country honour
our climate change commitments," said Minister Dion.
These measures include $500 million to provide direct financial
assistance of between $3,500 and $5,000 to low-income households to defray
the cost of items such as draft-proofing, heating system upgrades and window
replacement under the new EnerGuide for Low-Income Households (EGLIH)
program. For multiple-unit buildings and rooming houses, financial
assistance will range between $1,000 and $1,500 per unit. Cost savings will
average about 30 per cent per household.
"As a government, we understand that the cost of energy is a major
factor in housing affordability," said Minister Fontana. "These
measures, in addition to our current Residential Rehabilitation Assistance
Program, will help more Canadians significantly reduce their energy costs
not only immediately, but for years to come."
Additional measures to promote energy efficiency include:
$170 million to enrich the EnerGuide for Houses Retrofit
Incentive program, which is similar to the EGLIH program but not limited
to low-income families. This measure will result in almost 750,000 homes
being retrofitted by 2010 instead of the 500,000 projected in
Budget 2005-the last time this program's funding was increased;
strengthening financial incentives for best-in-class
energy-efficient oil and gas furnaces by an average of $150 per unit;
corresponding financial incentives, averaging $250 per
household, for homes heated with electricity; and
increasing retrofit incentives for public sector institutions
such as hospitals, schools, municipalities and provincial governments.
In recognition of the growing importance of public transit in the face of
rising energy costs, and to give municipalities greater certainty for their
own planning purposes, Minister Goodale confirmed that $400 million,
previously provided for under Bill C-48, will be freed up in each of the
next two fiscal years for municipalities to boost investments in urban
transit infrastructure.
Enhancing Market Transparency and Accountability
Actions to improve energy market transparency and accountability include:
creating the Office of Petroleum Price Information to monitor
energy price fluctuations and provide clear, current information to
Canadians. The Minister of Natural Resources will be accountable to
Parliament for the Office; and
giving Canada's Competition Bureau more powers and
strengthening the Competition Act to deter anti-competitive practices.
These changes will increase the fines for those convicted of price-fixing
to $25 million from $10 million. They will also provide the Competition
Bureau with the ability to assess the state of competition in particular
sectors of the economy so the Bureau can act more quickly when it suspects
anti-competitive behaviour.
"We are strengthening the Competition Act to deal with anti-competitive
behaviour," said Minister Emerson. "These amendments will increase
deterrence and improve compliance with the law."
Payments under the proposed Energy Cost Benefit and EGLIH program can be
issued only after the legislation has received Royal Assent.
Backgrounders containing further information about this comprehensive
package are attached.
For more information on these measures and related Government of Canada
programs and services, call 1 800 O-Canada (1 800 622-6232), TTY: 1 800
926-9105.
___________________________________
For further information, media may contact:
Pat Breton
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance
(613) 996-7861
David Gamble
Public Affairs and Operations Division
Department of Finance Canada
(613) 996-8080
Tom Ormsby
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Natural Resources
(613) 996-2007
Ghyslain Charron
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
(613) 992-4447
Peter Graham
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Labour
and Housing
(613) 953-5646
Grace Thrasher
Communications
Canada Mortgage and Housing
Corporation
(613) 748-2375
Christiane Fox
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Industry
(613) 995-9001
Media Relations
Industry Canada
(613) 943-2502
André Lamarre
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of the Environment
(613) 997-1441
