WhatFinger


Today Ontario relies on borrowing more than any other government in Canada.

​Ontario is Rolling the Dice with this Fiscal Plan



Premier Kathleen Wynne and her finance minister Charles Sousa were all smiles this week as they reintroduced the 2014 budget. Sousa told jokes and the premier laughed along as he read a budget speech that hits the pocket books of already struggling Ontario taxpayers, and marches the province further down the road to bankruptcy.
They are living in a fool’s paradise. They have convinced themselves that, because of the majority government they earned at the polls, they should impose their risky and irresponsible fiscal plan. The budget is setting off alarm bells across the province and the country, from finance civil servants to credit rating agencies. The latest came in the form of a warning from Moody’s that lowered Ontario’s credit rating outlook from stable to negative. The credit rating agency cited a lack of confidence in the government’s ability to meet its fiscal targets as the reason for the change. But still, the Wynne government doubled down and reintroduced the same budget that posts a $12.5 billion deficit, increases program spending by over $3 billion, and sees Ontario’s net debt increase to a staggering $289 billion or $20,116 for every woman, man and child in the province.

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The government is gambling, and the stakes for Ontario taxpayers are unbearably high. Premier Kathleen Wynne has said that she wants to run her government from the “activist centre” and implement a“social justice” agenda. But Ontario is not in a position to build new government programs or further increase spending on lofty ideological goals. We still haven’t paid for the last decade of government expansion, and thanks to this growth, today Ontario relies on borrowing more than any other government in Canada. The premier prides herself on being progressive and socially responsible. But how responsible is it to saddle a future generation with debt? You cannot be socially responsible unless you are fiscally responsible. And while Wynne and Sousa claim they will balance the budget in two year’s time without any cuts, this projection is neither sincere nor realistic. It does not give a thorough blueprint of the path to a balanced budget. Instead, it increases program spending, hikes taxes to pay for Toronto subways instead of addressing the operating deficit, and creates a $3 billion slush fund for more corporate welfare. You see, the government’s plan is to funnel cash from hard-working taxpayers into the hands of well-connected corporations to create jobs, meanwhile, hiking taxes on those very same businesses. This, they say, will grow the economy enough to raise revenues and balance the books. In just two years. It’s sort of like a person on the verge of bankruptcy taking a cash advance from their credit card, then going to the high-rollers table at the casino and betting it all on one hand of blackjack. Albert Einstein observed that insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. Ontario has engaged in full-fledge stimulus spending since the recession began in 2008, without much success of turning things around. Despite hundreds of billions flushed down the drain in failed programs, much of which was borrowed and still owing, the government still believes the economy will recover with just a little more government stimulus. What makes this time any different? Nothing. Their plan, as per Einstein, is pure insanity. Candice Malcolm is the Ontario Director of the CTF


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Canadian Taxpayers Federation Candice Malcolm -- Bio and Archives

Canadian Taxpayers Federation


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