QUEEN’S PARK – The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are evident throughout the 2020 budget released by the Ontario government on Nov. 5.
Titled “Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover,” finance minister Rod Philllips’ first budget is billed as “the next phase of a comprehensive action plan to respond to the serious health and economic impacts of COVID-19” in a press release from his ministry.
The release states the plan sets out a total of $45 billion in support over three years “to make available the necessary health resources to continue protecting people, deliver critical programs and tax measures to support individuals, families and job creators impacted by the virus, and lay the groundwork for a robust long-term economic recovery for the province.”
The government is projecting a deficit of $38.5 billion for 2020-21 on total spending of $187 billion, including $30 billion in pandemic-specific spending.
The province is no longer projecting a date for return to balance, although it is forecasting declining deficits of $33.1 billion in 2021-22 and $28.2 billion in 2022-23.
Citing “the continued uncertainty of the global pandemic,” the government states it intends to table a multi-year plan, including a path to balance, in the 2021 budget by March 31, 2021.
The budget allocates an additional $572 million to hospitals for costs incurred during the health crisis, on top of an additional $2.5 billion the province says has already spent in the hospital sector this year to help fight the pandemic.
For parents, the budget adds $380 million to the $378 million spent earlier on funds to help with the costs of at-home education through a program that provides $200 per child under 12 and $250 per child or youth with special needs.
Outlined in the budget is a plan to explore creation of a tax credit of up to 20 per cent of expenses for Ontario residents visiting destinations in Ontario, in an effort to assist the struggling tourism sector.
The province has announced plans to spend an additional $680 million over four years to expand rural broadband access. The budget says, when combined with previous spending, the government is investing nearly $1 billion over six years for broadband expansion.
Other highlights include:
- $30 million to help curb COVID-19 outbreaks in facilities like group homes and women’s shelters;
- $180 million over three years to help retrain workers, particularly in service industries, displaced by the pandemic; and
- a plan to subsidize up to 16 per cent of electricity costs for industrial users and 14% for commercial users starting Jan. 1.
The budget allocates significant funds to infrastructure spending: nearly $143 billion for transit, highways, schools, hospitals and broadband over the next 10 years, including $13.6-billion in 2020–21.
Wellington County Warden Kelly Linton said the infrastructure spending commitments will have an important impact locally.
“The overall commitment of the Ontario Government to partner with municipalities to expedite shovel-ready infrastructure renewal projects is extremely welcome news,” said Linton.
“I know the county and our member municipalities will be figuring out what projects should proceed in order to optimize these provincial funds to support our communities.
“We want to make sure we are doing whatever we can to actively support our families and our businesses.”
Linton noted both the tourism and broadband funding are good news for this area.
KELLY LINTON
“We know that the hospitality industry has been hammered by COVID. Both the county and the Township of Centre Wellington have been very active in supporting our local business – many that depend on tourists to stay in business,” he stated.
“We closed downtown streets to vehicles, introducing our Support Local program and offering loans and grants to our local businesses. Additional support from the provincial government to provide further support to the hospitality industry is very welcome.”
Linton added the county has been very active in supporting the expansion of broadband through involvement in the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) project.
“As we speak, areas across the county, including Arthur, Ariss, Ponsonby, Inverhaugh, Eden Mills, Rockwood, and Belwood are finally getting fibre to the home,” he said.
“We are confident that this new funding will add to the list of broadband-connected areas across the county.”
Linton noted a budget proposal to provide municipalities with the ability to cut property tax for small businesses, combined with a provincial commitment to consider matching these reductions, is an intriguing idea.
“This is something that both the county and member municipalities have supported through our membership in the Association of Municipalities of Ontario,” he said.
“The commitment of the province to consider matching these reductions is a very interesting proposition. We’ll definitely have to have some internal discussions about this at both a county and Centre Wellington level. We are very committed to taking real action to support the rebuilding of our economy and job creation.”
Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece says the budget “marshals the resources necessary” to continue protecting people, supporting those impacted by the virus, and laying the groundwork for long-term economic recovery.
“This action plan will help us get us through challenging times,” Pettapiece said.
“It shows we will do what is necessary to protect our health, support those who need help, and put us on the road to recovery. That’s why I plan to support it.”
Pettapiece called a commitment of $540 million for long-term care homes in 2020-21, building on the $243 million announced in March, “a major investment designed to protect residents, caregivers and staff in long-term care homes from future surges of COVID-19.”
“We in Perth-Wellington are fortunate to have so many good long-term care homes,” Pettapiece stated. “So many families rely on them, and it’s good to know the government has a plan to protect residents and staff.”
Some $1.75 billion is designated to build new homes and new beds; a move Pettapiece says is needed to cut wait lists and better serve an ageing population.
Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, says the long-term care funding is an example of how the budget contains promises of future funding that would be better spent now.
The budget promises to hire more personal support workers and increase direct daily care to four hours a day for long-term care residents, but the plan will be phased in over four years.
“There are unfunded promises in long-term care,” Schreiner said. “I’ve been pushing for this for a long time. Our elders deserve the care they need. It’s tragic what happened in the spring. This needs to be our top priority.”
In general, Schreiner says the budget contains a few good elements, but it largely misses the mark.
“I don’t think it stepped up for this moment in time,” he said in a phone interview.
MIKE SCHREINER
Schreiner also feels the budget is short on funding for mental health supports and said he hoped to see an additional $3.8 million a year to shore up a system that has been long underfunded.
“I don’t have to tell anyone in Wellington County how important this is, with suicides on the rise. There is such a shortage – especially right now,” he said.
Schreiner added he hoped to see an aggressive home renovation/retrofit program in the bill to make energy-efficient modifications economically attainable for builders and homeowners. He said such programs offered after the 2008 recession were very popular and served to create jobs and reduce energy bills.
“The funds need to be in place now so people can start planning, but it’s not there,” he said.
“There are some small renovation tax credits for seniors (so they can live independently in their own homes), and that’s a nice, small step. But the government could have been more ambitious.”
It didn’t make headlines, but Schreiner said he’s concerned with the budget bill and what it will do to conservation authorities across the province.
“I’m deeply concerned,” he said. The budget “appears to undermine conservation authorities. I want to make sure the good work they’ve done can continue.”
Conservation Ontario has stated changes to the Conservation Authorities Act announced in the budget raised red flags at the association.
“There are a number of changes that we feel could have significant impact on conservation authorities, and on their watershed management responsibilities,” said Conservation Ontario general manager Kim Gavine in a Nov. 6 statement.
Schreiner does support a few things in the budget that would benefit small businesses, such as making permanent an Employer Health Tax exemption level increase from $490,000 to $1 million, which was initiated as a COVID-19 mitigation measure, and allowing municipalities to reduce property taxes for small businesses.
“To recover from COVID economically, we need to make sure small businesses can survive,” he said.
Pettapiece said he is pleased to see the government providing support for sectors of the economy that matter to the communities he represents.
“Agriculture and tourism, among many other sectors, matter enormously,” Pettapiece said.
In agriculture, he pointed to a $25.5 million allocation for the Agri-food Prevention and Control Innovation Program. The initiative is intended to support and protect agri-businesses from COVID-19.
In addition to encouraging Ontarians to take “staycations,” Pettapiece noted additional investments in tourism include a $100-million community building fund, and $25 million in one-time funding to help arts institutions cover losses related to the pandemic.
The broadband funding will also be very important locally, said the MPP.
“To many of us in rural Ontario, this issue is a very big deal,” Pettapiece said. “It’s a big deal for rural jobs, health care, education and agriculture.”
The entire 2020 Ontario budget, which passed first reading in the legislature on Nov. 5, is available online at budget.ontario.ca.
