Doug Ford’s Conservatives will be accelerating spending as part of their pre-election budget, with an emphasis on building roads, expanding hospitals and tax breaks for some workers and seniors..Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy defended the $198.6 billion budget, saying now is the time for the province to invest and rebuild..“Sparing no expense during the pandemic was the right thing to do. Rebuilding Ontario’s economy today is the right thing to do in a fiscally responsible way, which we demonstrated in this budget,” he said..The 268-page document shows that the province is expected to have a.$19.9 billion deficit this year, up from last year’s $13.5-billion deficit. The Conservatives aren’t planning to balance the budget until 2027-28..The budget includes several measures dedicated to keeping costs down, including cutting the gas tax by 5.7 cents a litre for six months beginning on July 1, reaching a deal with the federal government to provide $10-a-day on average child care by 2025, and eliminating and refunding licence plate renewal fees back to March 2020..Two new affordability measures were also proposed; an Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit, which will give recipients up to 25% of eligible medical expenses back up to a maximum of $1,500, and an enhancement of Ontario’s Low-income Individuals and Families Tax Credit..The budget includes several proposed highway projects, including.widening Highway 401 from Pickering to Oshawa, widening.Highway 17 from Arnprior to Renfrew,.reconstructing a stretch of Highway 101 in northern Ontario, and a new twin bridge over the Welland Canal on the Queen Elizabeth Way..The Tories will spend $61.1 billion on public transit projects, including subway builds in Toronto and expanded service on the GO Transit network. $40 billion will be spent on hospitals and healthcare facilities in Ontario, including $27 billion in capital grants. $21 billion will be spent on schools, with $14 billion going towards capital grants..But the budget does not include a 20% middle-class income tax cut, which the Tories promised in 2018 would be in place by the third year of their mandate. .The government is also promising the creation of a new provincial park, though the budget document did not include the location price tag..Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said the document is “completely lacking in the kind of ambition that I know that the people of Ontario have for our province and want to see for the future of our province.”.NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the Conservatives presented a “bait and switch” budget and said they would introduce cuts if re-elected. “Doug Ford is going to go right back to cutting the minute this election is over if we give him the chance,” she said..Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
