Northern Living Allowance Increased In Budget

Northern Living Allowance Increased In Budget

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 14:45

Prince Albert MP Brian Fitzpatrick says a budget item announced yesterday will directly benefit northern workers.

Under the federal budget, the northern residents deduction has increased by 10 per cent.

It will translate into an extra $273 in annual income tax savings for workers living in the “intermediate zone”, such as La Ronge.

Meantime, workers in the Far North — or “northern zone” — will see their living allowance increased by $547 a year.

Fitzpatrick says this shows the Conservative government is listening to northerners.

But NDP Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River by-election candidate Brian Morin says the increase is “not very much” when one considers the high cost of living in remote areas.

Fitzpatrick says the last time the allowance was adjusted to this scale was 1986.