Budget gets mixed reaction from Ontarians
Promises on financial assistance for tuition and wine in more grocery stores hailed, while cap-and-trade plan generates questions.

thestar.com
Feb. 25, 2016
By Ben Spurr

The provincial budget the Liberals unveiled Thursday promises to lighten the load for post-secondary students, make it easier for wine lovers to get their fix, and increase families’ monthly bills in the name of combating climate change.

The big surprise in the document was a rejigging of financial assistance programs that will see the government cover college and university tuition costs for thousands of low-income students.

Nobu Chern-Warwick, 18, who will start classes at the University of Toronto in September, said the announcement is fantastic news. “Education should be a fundamental right for all people. It’s the basis for opportunity in our society,” he said.

Chern-Warwick said he’s fortunate enough to come from a well-off household and likely wouldn’t qualify for the new Ontario Student Grant, which would come into effect in 2017 and mainly benefit students from families that make less than $50,000 a year.

But he said the rising cost of education has meant that many people of his generation leave school burdened with debt and “it really is government’s responsibility at this point to step in.”

Renee Tratch, a Leslieville mom of two boys whose husband works for a health non-profit, said she wants to help fight climate change. But she questioned why, under the cap-and-trade plan in the Liberal budget, large polluting companies are being given time to start paying the full price of their carbon emissions, while average citizens could start feeling financial pressure next year. The average car-driving family can expect to spend $13 a month more under the scheme.

Tratch was also concerned about the Liberals’ decision to scrap the Children’s Activity Tax Credit, which provided parents who enrolled their kids in recreational activities an average rebate of $70.

“For the average family, whenever there’s a small increase in expenses...at the end of the day and at the end of the month, it really does add up,” she said.

Anila Sunnak, a freelance communications professional who lives near High Park, said she didn’t mind paying more under the cap-and-trade plan if it helps slow climate change.

“I have a 16-year-old daughter. It’s really about the next generation. It’s absolutely critical that we get a handle on (global warming),” she said.

John Sanchez, a small business owner in Etobicoke, called the government’s efforts to implement an Ontario Retirement Pension Plan “a huge mistake.”

John Sanchez, the owner of an investment business in Etobicoke, called the government’s efforts to implement an Ontario Retirement Pension Plan “a huge mistake.” Small- and medium-sized businesses are to start paying into the plan in 2019,and Sanchez said the cost of doing so means he’ll have to consider laying off some of his 20 employees.

Teresina Aiello, a wine enthusiast from Hamilton, is pleased with the province's decision to allow grocery stores to sell wine.

Hamilton resident Teresina Aiello drank up the Liberals’ plan to finally allow grocery stores to sell wine. By the fall, 70 stores across the province will stock wine, and half of those will exclusively carry Ontario’s VQA products. Eventually, up to 300 stores will be allowed to offer wine.

“It not only helps the consumer...it also helps the (Ontario) wine industry and the wineries themselves,” said Aiello, 31.

“It’s about time. I don’t know why it wasn’t brought sooner.”