Pre-budget consultations are wrapping up in Toronto today, and the Ontario PC Party is charging that the Liberals are anything but open and transparent.
"Many Ontarians participated in the pre-budget hearings staged over the past two weeks across the province. Media is now reporting the 2016 Ontario Budget will be released in early March. In addition the Minister of Finance will make a previously unscheduled presentation to the Finance Committee at noon today – clearly devised to hide the fact the Minister won’t be considering any of the presentations heard during consultations," says a news release from the Party.
“The budget is now planned to be released in early March. However it takes months to price-out each component of a budget and many weeks to write the final document, translate it, and print it, so we know that work is largely complete,” said Vic Fedeli, Ontario PC Finance Critic. “With the pre-budget consultations still underway, this confirms the Liberal government had absolutely no intention of considering any of the ideas from the Committee.”
Pre-budget hearings are intended to provide an opportunity for Ontarians to have their say.
“It’s sad these costly hearings were a sham – simply an opportunity for the Liberals to make it appear they would listen to people throughout Ontario,” Fedeli added.
The Finance Committee is responsible for issuing a final report detailing the public hearings, which will be presented to the House.
