All Three Ontario Parties – Liberal, Conservative and NDP – Weigh In On Provincial Budget

By Doug Draper

In what is very likely the last budget the Ontario Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty will table  before this coming October’s provincial election, the Liberals and opposition Conservatives and NDP have been quick this March 29 to offer their spin.

Niagara At Large is offering you the media releases it has received from Ontario Liberal cabinet minister and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley, and from the province’s Conservative leader and Niagara area MPP Tim Hudak, and NDP leader and Hamilton area MPP Andrea Horwath.

We will leave it to our readers, for now, to wade the releases below and share their comments. Just try to remember to abide by NAL’s comment guidelines and be civil in your comments and share your full name.

Ontario Liberal Party  Media Release, March 29, 2011

Niagara Families to Benefit from Budget’s Focus on Protecting Education and Health Care

McGuinty Government Invests in 60,000 new higher education spaces, 90,000 more breast cancer screening exams

St. Catharines – The 2011 Ontario Budget continues the McGuinty government’s support of Ontario’s economic recovery. The budget focuses on eliminating the deficit while protecting education and health care, St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley announced today.

“Strategic investments in education and health care lay the foundation for more and better jobs, increased productivity and a better quality of life for all our families in Niagara.  We have a plan that is on track to eliminate the deficit while protecting the gains we have made in our schools and hospitals,” Bradley said.

Niagara College and Brock University will benefit from the 60,000 new post-secondary spaces that the government is funding, while keeping education more affordable for students.

The McGuinty budget expands breast cancer screening in Niagara to reach women between the ages of 30 and 49 who are at high risk for breast cancer due to genetic factors, medical or family history, and support additional exams for women aged 50 to 69 who are currently covered under the program. Province wide there will be 90,000 more screenings funded.

The government is also assisting Niagara organizations providing much needed mental health and addictions services to children and youth, by increasing annual funding to our Mental Health and Addictions Strategy.

The McGuinty government is providing sustainable programing for Niagara farmers by extending the current Risk Management Program for grain and oilseed farmers and implementing a new Risk Management Program for the cattle, hog, sheep and veal sectors, as well as a Self-Directed Risk Management Program for the edible horticulture sector.

Niagara is internationally recognized for its natural heritage and protected landscape. The McGuinty government understands the importance of our protected agricultural lands. To ensure its long-term sustainability, thye government has increased funding to the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation to continue to promote agriculture, tourism and environmental integrity in Ontario’s Greenbelt.

Beginning in 2011, more pharmacy services and support will be available to Niagarans covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, including seniors.

The deficit for 2010–11 is projected to be $16.7 billion — $3 billion lower than forecast a year ago. This is largely due to the fact that the McGuinty government spent $2.6 billion less than had been forecast for the year just ending.

The 2011 Budget’s strategic investments include:

Economy

The economy is growing and jobs are coming back to Niagara.

§       Ontario has recovered 91 per cent of the jobs lost during the recession. Nine in 10 jobs lost during the worldwide recession have been regained.

§       Ontario’s Real GDP Growth Projection 2011 by 2.4%

Jobs and Growth

§       New partnerships with the private sector will create and retain nearly 10,000 jobs in Ontario

§       Helping livestock farmers by implementing a new Risk Management Program, and a Self-Directed Risk Management Program for the edible horticulture sector

Protecting Education

§       More than 60,000 new student spaces in Ontario’s colleges and universities by
2015–16. There will be room for every qualified Ontario student

§       This September, full-day kindergarten will be available in an additional 200 schools, benefiting up to 50,000 children. Currently, nearly 600 schools offer full-day kindergarten for up to 35,000 children. It will be fully implemented, available in every school, in September 2014

Protecting Health Care

§       About 90,000 additional breast cancer screening exams to help reach more women who are at high risk

§       A comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, starting with children
and youth

§       Expanding pharmacy services and support for people covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program — helping seniors and others with things like prescription follow-up consultations

Supports to Niagara

The McGuinty government continues its support to municipalities by uploading social services, downloaded by the previous government. In 2011, Uploads will provide more than $99,000,000 of supports to Niagara.

§       Public Health – $18,472,500

§       Land Ambulance – $13,548,100

§       Provincial Gas Tax – $5,342,700

§       ODB – $7,653,700

§       ODSP Administration – $3,816,000

§       ODSP Benefits – $29,727,500

§       Ontario Works Benefits – $1,031,300

§       Ontario Works Administration – $6,178,000

§       CRF/OMPF – $13,663,000

Managing Responsibly

To help eliminate the deficit without threatening economic growth or the gains Ontarians have made in education and health care, the government must further reform the way it does business. Recent initiatives and those announced in this budget would help realize savings of nearly $1.5 billion over the next three fiscal years. There are several new measures that would make public services more affordable and effective for Ontario families, including:

§       Determining whether the current ServiceOntario delivery model provides the best value and service to people

§       Instructing major agencies to deliver efficiencies of $200 million by 2013–14

§       Reducing funding permanently for executive offices of specific transfer payment recipients by 10 per cent over two years. This policy will also be put in place for major government agencies

The 2011 Budget builds on the McGuinty government’s Open Ontario plan to strengthen the economy, promote job creation and protect key public services.

Ontario Conservative Party Media Release, March 29. 2011

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak Says Ontario Families Need Relief from Tax and Spend McGuinty Liberals

NEWS:

QUEEN’S PARK — Today, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak said Dalton McGuinty’s out-of-touch budget cements what the Ontario PCs have been saying all along: Dalton McGuinty can only be counted on to do two things, raise taxes and increase government spending.

Hudak warned the spending increases in Dalton McGuinty’s pre-election budget are only one half of his typical spend-and-tax pattern. The other half will come later this year when he sheepishly promises Ontario families not to raise their taxes with every intention of bringing in an historic tax hike following the election. We saw this pattern before after the 2003 campaign when he brought in the so-called health tax, and then after the 2007 campaign when he brought in his HST tax grab and eco tax.

Tim Hudak and the Ontario PCs stood up for Ontario families today and called for the real relief they desperately need. Only a Tim Hudak PC government will put money back in the hands of Ontario families so they can spend on their priorities, and not the government’s.

QUOTES:

“After eight years, it’s clear only two things are guaranteed with Dalton McGuinty… he will raise taxes and increase spending. I know it. Ontario families know it. It’s Dalton McGuinty’s routine: break promise, tax, spend, repeat.”

–Tim Hudak, Ontario PC Leader

“If this budget was sold at your local Chapters, you would find it under ‘fiction’. Ontario families know Dalton McGuinty will say anything he thinks will help to get him re-elected. Why would anyone believe him today?”

–Tim Hudak, Ontario PC Leader

QUICK FACTS:

• Dalton McGuinty has added more to Ontario’s debt than any other premier, despite bringing in the largest income tax increase (the so-called health tax) and the largest sales tax increase (his HST tax grab) in Ontario’s history.
• During his eight years in office, Dalton McGuinty has increased government spending by 70 percent, during which time Ontario’s economy grew by just nine percent.
• As a result, Ontario’s debt has increased by 73 percent under Dalton McGuinty to a whopping $257 billion. He is currently on pace to double Ontario’s debt by 2012.

NDP Media Release, March 29, 2011

McGuinty budget leaves Ontario families behind

QUEEN’S PARK – Dalton McGuinty’s latest budget is yet another setback for recession-weary families still struggling to find jobs and cope with ever-increasing bills, says Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

“The Premier says he’s turning a corner, but most families feel like they’ve been left by the side of the road while he drives by,” said Horwath. “Instead of putting people first they’re defending a status quo that isn’t working.”

“While the Premier pats himself on the back, families are scrambling to cope with higher electricity bills, rising prices at the gas pumps and an unfair HST that makes life less affordable than ever before.”

Prior to today’s budget, New Democrats had proposed giving families real relief by permanently taking the HST off hydro and home heating bills, and replacing across the board corporate tax cuts with targeted tax measures to create jobs. The McGuinty Liberals chose not to go in that direction.

“We asked the McGuinty government to put people first in this budget. They refused. The government could have made life more affordable for families, instead they’ve put another $400-million into corporate tax giveaways,” said Horwath.

Horwath pointed to the budget’s reduced job creation projections of 60,000 fewer jobs as prime evidence of a government that has lost its way.

“Families are very worried about jobs that still haven’t come back despite McGuinty government assurances and promises to the contrary,” said Horwath.

She also worries the government is opening the door to privatizing important public services. “Families have learned the hard way with the 407 that selling off public services means paying a lot more,” warned Horwath.

She labeled the government’s other budget initiatives as too little, too late.

“The choices the government has made in this budget are the choices of an out-of-touch, out-of-gas second term government that doesn’t care about the challenges facing hard-hit families. For these families, October 6^th can’t come soon enough,” said Horwath.

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