From: Brennan, James [mailto:jbrennan@crea.ca ]
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 10:21 AM

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you know, the Department of Finance is now in the process of finalizing the content for the 2007 Federal Budget.  We now know that it will be presented in the House of Commons by Minister Jim Flaherty on Monday March 19th, 2007 - one week before PAC Days. 

On February 15th, CREA's CEO Pierre Beauchamp participated in a small face-to-face roundtable meeting with Minister Flaherty and Parliamentary Secretary Diane Ablonczy at the Minister's office in Ottawa .  At this meeting he outlined and reiterated some of the REALTOR® priorities for the upcoming Federal Budget, namely Reinvesting in Real Property (Capital Gains Tax deferrals, and Capital Cost Allowance Recapture rollovers), and an immediate increase to the Home Buyers' Plan withdrawal thresholds (and subsequent inflationary adjustments).

Finance Canada also announced that they would be conducting a public, internet-based, pre-budget consultation until February 28th.  This is an opportunity for Canadians to make their views known to the Minister as he prepares for the next Budget.

Based on the Prime Minister's 2006 election pledge to introduce a deferral of capital gains taxes when the proceeds are reinvested within a specified time period, CREA believes that 2007 may be the best opportunity we have had in many years to secure a rollover of Capital Gains Tax and Capital Cost Allowance Recapture.  Because of this, we are asking for your help to push for this issue.  We are also asking you to call for changes to Home Buyers' Plan and responsible fiscal management.

All REALTORS® and Board/Association staff can register their views with Finance Canada through the Department's website.  However, to assist with this, CREA has developed its own website to help you support these issues and participate in the consultation process.

The link to this site is:  http://portal.realtorlink.ca/content/realtor_message

I urge all REALTORS® and staff to visit this site as soon as possible, and participate in the online consultation process by February 28th.

 See also nOVEMBER 20, 2006 CREA News release  Click here 

Thank you for your support,

James Brennan. CREA Director, External Relations.