President George W. Bush outlines his economic stimulus plan at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Chicago Tuesday. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

U.S. President George W. Bush unveiled his $670-billion (U.S.) "jobs and growth package" Tuesday, vowing to create jobs and put the shine back on the world's biggest economy.

"We can not be satisfied until every part of the economy is healthy and growing," Mr. Bush said during a televised address from the Economic Club of Chicago.

The proposal — which spreads the total pricetag over 10 years — includes plans to scrap the dividend tax, speeding up tax cuts and create jobs as well as provide tax relief to 92 million Americans by accelerating income tax cuts and boosting the child tax credit by $400 per child.

The tax cuts, Mr. Bush said, will put $70-billion back into the U.S. eocnomy over the next 18 months.

Finance Minister John Manley responded to the U.S. package with a wait-and-see approach.

"We will have to wait," Mr. Manley told reporters on Tuesday when asked if Canada will have to follow the American's lead.

"We already have a tax reduction in place. It was introduced in 2000 over a five-year period. We have to continue to fulfill our commitment to bring taxes down."

Canadians will see tax cuts this year and further cuts next year, Mr. Manley said. He is scheduled to deliver a budget next month.

But the Finance Minister said "...if there are significant tax cuts brought in in the United States the competitiveness of our tax system is also an important consideration. But let's wait and see by how much they decide to reduce taxes in the United States."

The U.S. proposal also extends unemployment benefits, as well as a pledge of $3.6-billion to states for retraining and support of an estimated 1.2 million unemployment workers.

The battered U.S. economy has struggled through most of last year attempting to mount a convincing recovery, with the country's employment rolls remaining stagnant.

Still, despite maintaining that the U.S. economy is "doing well", Mr. Evans acknowledged that the country's jobs situation is a concern for the current administration.

In November's jobless rate stood at 6 per cent. Employment figures for the last month of the year are due Friday, with economists expecting only a slight improvement in terms of job creation.

Mr. Bush's plan aims to create 2.1 million jobs over the next three years.

A cornerstone of the Bush package is the plan to scrap taxes on stock dividends, a move the U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday will boost the U.S. economy this year by about $20-billion.

Details of the plan were widely circulated ahead of Tuesday's speech in Chicago.

"Today, President Bush is going to announce a legislative package that will encourage consumer spending that will continue to boost the economic recovery, promote investment by individuals and businesses that will lead to economic growth and job creation and deliver critical help to unemployed citizens," the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement posted on its Web site before the speech.

Government critics, however, have challenged early details of the package, accusing the White House of aligning itself with Corporate America and the rich.

The opposition Democrats released their own proposal on Monday, although Commerce Secretary Donald Evans decried that package during an interview on CNN as a "spending plan" during Tuesday's interview. Mr. Bush's proposal, he said, is based on tax cuts and lays the ground work for future growth.

"It allows families to plan for the future," said Evans.

He also said a typical family of four earning $39,000 a year will receive an additional $1,100 in 2003 under Mr. Bush's plan, and more in following years.

"Families like to be able to plan their future," he said.

"They want some certainty in their future. That's what the president provides for them."

According to a fact sheet released by the Treasury Department ahead of Tuesday's speech, the proposal — which still has to be passed by Congress — would move up tax cuts scheduled to go into effect in 2004 and 2006 to Jan. 1 this year in addition to wiping out all federal taxes on stock dividends and boost the child care tax credit by $400 per child.

"Upon passage, the president will order the Treasury Department to immediately adjust the amount of money withheld for income taxes, so that Americans will keep more of their paychecks right away," the U.S. government department said.

The plan will cut the marriage penalty this year, instead of waiting until 2009. The Bush administration estimates that move will benefit 46 million married couples. The plan will raise the child tax credit from $600 to $1,000 per child this year, instead of in 2010.

According to the plan's details:

• 92 million taxpayers would receive an average tax cut of $1,083 in 2003

• 46 million married couples would receive average tax cuts of $1,716

• 34 million families with children will receive average tax cuts of $1,473

• 13 million elderly taxpayers would receive a $1,384 tax cut.

Despite criticism from the Democrats, at least some economists offered praise of the proposed package Tuesday, saying that — since the U.S. economy is already on the mend — the plan offers enough incentives.

"The U.S. economy is already poised for an economic recovery, thanks to low interest rates and a coming rebound in corporate earnings," Sherry Cooper, chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., said.

"Whatever mix of fiscal measures are enacted this year will be icing on the cake. Too much icing ruins the cake. What this does do is improve investor, business and consumer confidence. That immeasurable is extremely positive."

With a report from Allison Lawlor