Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office (FAO) in a report on its website today called the recent Ontario budget “vague and uncertain”.
The FAO provides the Legislative Assembly of Ontario with independent analysis on the state of the Province's finances and trends in the provincial economy.
Read the FAO report here.
"The Financial Accountability Officer today reiterated concerns of the Ontario PC Caucus about the credibility of the Wynne Government’s budget numbers," Finance Critic and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said today.
Fedeli said the government has made the deficit appear smaller by using one-time money from asset sales, contingency reserves, and the brisk housing market - $500 million in extra sales tax revenue and $300 million more in land transfer taxes were booked as operating revenue.
“BMO Capital Markets Economics wrote in its weekly digest that planned asset sales of $5.7 billion are “one-time in nature, and don’t address any underlying structural deficit,” said Fedeli. "In addition, Bryne Purchase, Ontario’s former Chief Economist and Deputy at many ministries, recently wrote 'the added revenue from cap-and-trade and the Hydro One sale help to make provincial numbers look better'.”
“Today, the FAO agreed, stating ‘maintaining balanced budgets beyond 2017/18 will likely prove challenging."
Meanwhile, Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines says "the 2016 Ontario budget includes a number of key initiatives that will continue to drive a strong Northern economy and create jobs for today and tomorrow. In fact, the Budget for 2016-17 will enable our government to continue its mandate to support prosperous Northern communities.
Through such initiatives as the $120 million Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program, the $100 million Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and various public infrastructure investments, including our commitment to triple the Ontario Community Investment Fund from $100 million - $300 million, our government will continue working to increase the competitiveness of business and industry, foster innovation and entrepreneurial prospects — and create new jobs in the North.
For example Budget 2016 will, allow our government to deliver $550 million in northern infrastructure through the Northern Ontario Highways Program including the four-laning east of Thunder Bay on Highway 11-17 and on Highway 69 between Sudbury and Parry Sound. We’re proud of budget spending that includes $12 billion over ten years to expand and rebuild hospitals which will support the renovation of acute and long-term beds at Atikokan General Hospital and the $8 million retrofitting of Alexander Henry High School, in Sault Ste. Marie, into a new JK-8 school.
We are proud of our accomplishments toward developing the Ring of Fire region and have reaffirmed our $1 billion commitment to transportation infrastructure in the region. We’re working closely with First Nation partners to ensure they are actively involved and will benefit from development in this region.
Furthermore, our budget will help thousands of Northern Ontario residents and families benefit from our proposed reforms to student assistance including no-cost tuition for low-income families. Under our plan, students from families that make less than $50,000 will no longer have to worry about the cost of post-secondary tuition while those in families with middle-incomes will see significant reductions in tuition rates greatly benefitting families not just in the North but across Ontario.
This government cares about Northern Ontario and our record proves it. So, too, will the government’s future work to realize the North’s potential as a sustainable, diverse, stable, innovative region that significantly contributes to the overall growth of Ontario’s economy.
