Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli to table Tories’ first budget on April 11

Thestar.com
March 8, 2019
Robert Benzie

Finance Minister Vic Fedeli will table the Progressive Conservative government’s first budget on April 11.

Fedeli announced the budget date Thursday at a bakery in Nobleton, about 50 km north of Toronto.

Premier Doug Ford speaks with his Finance Minister Vic Fedeli during question period at Queen's Park. Fedeli will table the budget April 11.

“Budget 2019 will be a plan that is thoughtful and responsible,” the treasurer said, adding he will map out a “path to balance,” though he could not yet say if the province would be back in the black by the 2022 election.

In last June’s campaign, Premier Doug Ford promised to slash about $6 billion in funding from the annual $150 billion spending plan -- or 4 per cent -- while maintaining “not one” job will be lost.

With a deficit that has ballooned to $13.5 billion -- in part due to accounting changes that no longer count $11 billion in government-sponsored pension plans as assets -- that suggests Fedeli’s budget will introduce some austerity measures.

“The fiscal mess we inherited from the previous government cannot be understated,” he said, referring to former premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals who the Tories toppled last June 7.

But interim Liberal leader John Fraser said “the government has intentionally inflated the deficit to create a context for cuts.”

“There already have been job losses, so there will be (more) job losses. Right now they’re freezing education hiring so there will be job losses,” said Fraser.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Ontarians should brace for cuts across the board.

“They’re not a government that cares about everyday people and their needs. They’re a government that’s prepared to do what they can for their friends,” said Horwath.

“We’ve heard a lot of rhetoric around health care and we expect to see some suffering there in terms of budget cuts,” she said.