The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

•The IFP• H alton H ills, Thursd ay, Feb ruary 27, 2014 7 GEORGETOWN'S Best Kept Secret! 46 Armstrong Ave www.MiskasWoodProducts.com Casings Baseboards Crown Mouldings 416 - 220 - 2741 • Truck Accessories • Upholstery • Heavy Equipment Glass •Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1655 We handle all insurance work. • your window & door professionals • 341 Guelph St., Unit 3 Georgetown 905.873.0236 www.buy-wise.ca info@buy-wise.ca • awarded readers choice 20 times • Visit our showroom COMMENT Federal government keeping the fiscal ship on course On Feb. 11, Minister Flaherty in- troduced Budget 2014. The federal government announced a significant economic accomplishment: The fed- eral budget will be balanced in 12 months. Even more impressive, the budget will be balanced while keeping federal taxes low and protecting the programs and services Canadians count on. The government ex- pects the deficit to de- cline to $2.9 billion in 2014-15 and projects a surplus of over $6 bil- lion in 2015-16. Mean- while, federal transfers to individuals providing important income sup- port, such as Old Age Security and Employ- ment Insurance, and major transfers to other levels of gov- ernment, including those for social programs, health care and infrastruc- ture, continue to grow. Budget 2014 builds on the federal government's strong record of job cre- ation and economic growth. Since the global recession ended in 2009, Cana- da has achieved the best job creation record of any G-7 country, the stron- gest income growth and one of the best economic performances in the G-7. Over one million new jobs have been created in Canada since the re- cession ended in 2009, most of them full-time and most in the private sec- tor. The fact that the unemployment rate in Halton Region stood at 4.0 per cent in September 2013 is proof that the plan is working. Promoting job creation and eco- nomic growth will continue to be a focus. Budget 2014 introduces a new Canada Apprentice Loan to help reg- istered apprentices with interest-free loans for training and creates thou- sands of new paid internships for young Canadians entering the job market. It also doubles the amount of money available to invest in the auto- motive sector to $1 billion through the Automotive Innovation Fund, which will benefit Chrysler in Brampton, Ford in Oakville, Toyota in Cambridge and Honda in Alliston, as well as nu- merous car part suppliers like Linamar in Guelph and Jefferson in Elora. Budget 2014 also keeps federal taxes low. Since coming into office in 2006, the federal gov- ernment has repeatedly lowered taxes for Cana- dians. In fact, the govern- ment has cut taxes over 160 times since 2006, re- ducing the overall federal tax burden to its lowest level in nearly 50 years. Personal taxes, consump- tion taxes, business taxes, excise taxes all have been cut. The GST was cut from 7 to 5 per cent, putting nearly $1,000 back in the pocket of an aver- age family. The small business tax rate was cut from 12 to 11 per cent and the general business tax rate was lowered to 15 per cent, creating the lowest tax rate on new business investment in the G-7. As a result, over 1 million low-income families, individuals and seniors have been removed from the tax rolls altogether. A typical Cana- dian family of four is paying $3,100 less in federal taxes in 2014 than they were in 2005. Budget 2014 demonstrates that the federal government's plans are work- ing: Returning to balanced budgets and keeping federal taxes low, while protecting the programs and services Canadians count on. -- Michael Chong is the MP for Wellington-Halton Hills MICHAEL CHONG The way we were This image from 60 years ago shows the stone structure on Mill Street that served as the Georgetown Post Office from 1935 until 1963, before later being converted into apart- ments. Photo courtesy of the Esquesing Historical Society; Content Heritage Halton Hills 'Thank you for allowing me to serve what will have been 14 years' Joan Robson... see story pg. 5 A mature bald eagle has been spotted around Georgetown, said local photographer Greg Co- man. "A bald eagle sighting in Georgetown is quite extraordi- nary. I know of two other people that have seen it on different oc- casions over the past few weeks. I was lucky enough to get a photo of it in flight," he said. Got a photo you want to share? Email: cgamble@theifp.ca. PICTURE THIS From our readers 'Quote unquote' When snail mail ruled