It’s nothing short of an extraordinary and dangerous precedent ahead of the June election.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle offered that reaction to Acadia News following multiple reports that the government will alter its legal budget deadline of March 31st.
“They are in essence breaking their own law and bringing in legislation to avoid breaking that law,” Gravelle stated. “I think it’s important for us to see what the government’s plan is for the next fiscal year, and to delay it another month could be a dangerous thing to do.”
The governing Progressive Conservatives introduced a law in 2019 that required the budget to be delivered by March 31st.
Should that target be missed, Premier Doug Ford would have been penalized $10,000 while Finance Minister Peter Bethenfalvy would lose $5,000.
Also, the Finance Minister would have to explain why the deadline was missed.
Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell released the following statement:
“People need help now. We need to hire thousands of health care workers, tackle the backlog of surgeries and we need thousands of teachers and education workers. After Ford’s cuts to the public services we depend on, we need to start fixing health care, home care, long-term care, and education. And we need to help small businesses recover. We should have an early budget, not an extra-late one. Doug Ford is playing politics – worrying about himself and his buddies instead of the people who need help now.”
The government maintains that it wants a clearer picture of the province’s recovery after March 1st.
April 30th is the new deadline to deliver the 2022 Budget.
