With Andrea Horwath’s announcement that the NDP will support the provincial budget, it appears that Ontario will not face a spring election.
“I’m disappointed that the NDP have chosen to support a budget that dramatically increases the provincial debt, and offers little hope to our unemployed,” said Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott. He noted that with this year’s budget, provincial government spending is up by $3.6 billion, while the provincial debt is projected to rise by $20 billion this year, from $253 billion to $273 billion. With a deficit this year of $11.7 billion, in effect, the Wynne government is borrowing $1.3 million an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, Arnott said.
“It’s clear that the NDP is supporting this budget because the government gave in to their long list of demands. The Liberals made a conscious decision to buy the support of the NDP rather than make a genuine effort to confront our economic challenges.”
Arnott believes a change in government is needed to put Ontario back on the right track, stating, “At the end of the day, I don’t believe that the Liberal government that got us into this mess is the one to dig us out of it.”
Liberal officials, however, are pleased with the 2013 budget.
“It’s not everything people have told us they need,” Premier Kathleen Wynne told reporters at Queen’s Park. “But we’re proud to deliver results that will make people’s lives better and government more accountable.”
