QUEEN’S PARK – One-time asset sales will be used by the Wynne Liberals to create the false perception they’re making fiscal progress, Ontario PC Finance Critic Vic Fedeli charged today.
Reports that the Liberals are poised to sell a portion of Hydro One for as much as $1 billion in an initial public offering will do nothing to address the real problem Ontario faces, which is that we have a structural deficit in Ontario and spending will continue to outstrip revenues, said Fedeli.
“It’s one thing to maximize asset values, but they’re simply burning the furniture to heat the house. This money will not go to transit and infrastructure; it will be put into general revenues to soften the public perception about the deficit hole they’ve dug for Ontario.”
Fedeli again pointed to a loophole the Wynne Liberals established in passing the 2014 Budget, which funnels money from asset sales into general revenues, not into the Trillium Trust for transit and infrastructure.
“The Ontario PCs introduced three amendments to the budget bill to make reporting of proceeds from asset sales more transparent, but the Liberals defeated them,” Fedeli said.
“Today’s news suggests Kathleen Wynne sadly will not change course to address Ontario’s very real fiscal problems, but rather continue the deceitful spin seen in secret Finance documents released through the gas plant scandal hearings.”
