There is money going back into some provincial programs which had funding cut. In Wednesday’s mini-budget, the Ford government said there would $1.3 billion in extra spending for autism and child benefit programs. There is also a reduction in the small business corporate income tax from 3.2 percent from 3.5 percent. The deficit is forecast to be $9 billion down from $10.3 billion announced in the spring budget.
Although Thunder Bay’s NDP MPP says there are some goodies for our region in the Ontario government’s latest financial statement, Judith Monteith-Farrell feels more still needs to be done to offset the province’s recent cuts. Monteith-Farrell says it’s unfortunate they didn’t take this opportunity to address the public outcry over provincial cuts to legal aid and other programs. The NDP MPP is also interested to see if the new Thunder Bay Jail will actually get a construction date since the government reconfirmed funding for the project in the financial statement. Monteith-Farrell is pleased to see a cut to the aviation fuel tax by 4 cents since many northern communities rely on fly-in services.
Meanwhile, Liberal MPP Michael Gravelle is wary of the latest round of provincial government’s financial figures. Gravelle is addressing the latest report by Finance Minister Rod Phillips and notes he fears more funding cuts could be hidden in the government’s fall economic statement. He tells us, “That’s what I fear, I mean I do believe the inflated deficit last year was a way to make massive cuts to the system. Today’s figure of $9 billion dollars, I believe is an inflated deficit amount.”
