News from the Office of Ontario PC Finance Critic Vic Fedeli
QUEEN’S PARK, July 14th, 2014 — Premier Kathleen Wynne’s 2014 Budget recklessly puts Ontario’s teetering finances in greater jeopardy, Ontario PC Finance Critic and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli warned today.
“Today’s budget, the same one the Liberals introduced on May 1, risks a credit downgrade which could increase Ontario’s borrowing costs by billions of dollars, siphoning even more money out of frontline services,” Fedeli said.
Fedeli also noted that the budget, which was labeled by Maclean’s as “a unicorn budget built on delusion,” immediately sparked a credit watch from Moody’s Rating Service, who called it a “credit negative.” A credit downgrade will have real consequences, he said.
“Economist Jack Mintz has calculated a 1 per cent increase in interest rates will add as much as $3 billion annually to our costs that will take money away from health care and education.”
The incredible irony that the Liberals hope goes unnoticed by Ontarians is that cuts are already taking place right now under their watch, Fedeli continued.
“Nearly 300 nurses have been fired across the province, including 40 in my hometown of North Bay, where several teaching layoffs were also recently announced,” said Fedeli, also pointing to other cuts for physiotherapy services and cataract surgeries for seniors.
“This government has been pretty indignant about being opposed to cuts — but the truth is our frontline services are being eroded right now because this government can’t keep its fiscal house in order. “
The Premier’s Ontario pension plan scheme, meanwhile, is of great concern to businesses with a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business finding more than half of their members would have to cut staff if implemented, Fedeli added.
“With energy rates already the highest in North America, the small and mid-sized businesses that drive Ontario’s economy can’t afford this added burden,” he said.
“The bottom line is that this pre-election budget is no more credible, realistic or logical today than it was on May 1.”
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your comments on this post below.)
Niagara At Large 
What did you expect?
LikeLike
In principle, the pension plan is a positive venture: in reality it is an additional burden.
Most workers affected by this pension plan find it difficult to survive between pay cheques. Now the Wynne Government wants to make it more difficult to meet financial obligations by reducing their take home pay. The Government also hits the employers’ pocketbook.
Where does this money go? Is it handled by a third party to invest or does it go into the Government’s available funds to use as it pleases?
LikeLike
I personally think we need to challenge much of these assumptions. Organizations like Moody’s, Standard & Poor and such, all represent the very interests that benefit hugely from an austerity agenda. These are largely global bond traders, large multinationals and others that are trying to push their way against the democratic process.
Do you really think most people care about these things? Does the homeless person care about what Moody’s thinks? Does the single mother struggling to put food on her table and keep a roof over her head care what it thinks? Does the person with a disability that cannot work care what an organization like Moody’s thinks?
Unless we develop a drastic change in government philosophy and monetary policies, we’re going to constantly have these parties ride our democratic processes. The people of Iceland would no longer accept this, so why should we?
LikeLike