Toronto, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing the Ford government for taking Ontario back into deficit territory with a big-spending budget.

“After Ontario finally balanced the books for the first time in over a decade, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is plunging the province back into deficit,” said CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg. “Ford had a strong hand dealt to him with higher revenue and a budget that was already balanced last year and he tossed away the cards.”

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy is expecting a deficit of $2.2 billion in 2022-23 and a deficit of $1.3 billion in the coming fiscal year as well. The Ford government expects to balance the budget in 2024-25.

“This province is throwing away over a billion dollars a month on debt interest payments to bondholders on Bay Street because Ontario governments have continuously run deficits instead of making tough choices,” said Goldberg. “With that amount of money, we could be building a dozen brand-new hospitals a year. The government could balance the budget this year, and it should.”

Debt interest payments for 2023-24 are anticipated to be $14.1 billion.

“The government also failed to deliver on tax relief,” said Goldberg. “Government revenue is soaring because of inflation, but Ford isn’t giving any of it back to the people who need it most. This budget was a missed opportunity to help Ontarians through the current inflation crunch.”