Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020

Toronto, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the government of Ontario to reduce non-essential spending as the budget projects double-digit deficits for years to come.  

“Today’s budget contained a lot of spending announcements with little evidence that the government is belt-tightening in other areas to help pay for them,” said Jasmine Moulton, Ontario Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “It’s reasonable to increase spending in some areas during a global pandemic, but this government must lockdown non-essential spending to avoid passing down an even bigger debt burden to the next generation.”

The budget announced $15 billion in new COVID-19 support measures. When added to the total amount announced to date, that makes $45 billion that the Ontario government will spend in COVID-19 supports over a three-year period.

The deficit and net debt projections contained in Ontario’s budget released today remain mostly unchanged from the projections contained in its first quarter financial report released in August. The 2020-21 deficit will remain at $38.5 billion while the net debt will rise to $398 billion. The budget projects double-digit deficits until at least 2022-23.

“The government likes to say we’re all in this together, but it has continued spending like it’s business as usual while families and businesses have tightened their belts,” said Moulton. “Handing out taxpayer-funded raises to bureaucrats and corporate welfare to multinational giants when the province is broke is wrong.”

Pay raises for bureaucrats and corporate welfare handouts are two examples of non-essential spending that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized in its pre-budget submission to the Ontario government.

This year, most of the province’s 1.3 million government employees are eligible for a one per cent pay raise that will cost taxpayers up to $720 million. Meanwhile, 2.2 million Ontarians lost their jobs or had hours reduced due to COVID-19.