The Liberal’s Ontario Budget is all about spin and not about fixing the real problems facing Ontario Giles Bisson, MPP for Timmins-James Bay said at a news conference in Timmins earlier today.
There is nothing new in this budget it is the same old Liberal budget we have seen over the last few years Bisson said.
But Bisson added they are trying to spin minor tinkering as good news.
“For example in health care – the government has finally realized that the freezing of health care costs for the last several years was not a good idea, it’s hurting us,” Bisson said. “We have all seen it in longer waiting time for surgery, waiting longer to see specialists and health services that are no longer there.”
“To counter act the negative press coverage the Liberal government announce a one percent increase to health spending and we are to believe the problem is solved - but it has not solved the problem,” he added.
Bisson said there are some real changes that are needed to the improve healthcare services by pooling together resources and building economies of scales.
These approaches are not tackled in the budget.
“The provision of free tuition for students from families earning less than $50,000 a year is another example of the smoke and mirrors contained in the budget,” Bisson asserted.
“Don’t get me wrong, it is a good thing for those families earning less than $50,000,” Bisson said. “But in Ontario and Northern Ontario the majority of families earn over $50,000. Those hard working families are struggling to make ends meet and they still will be struggling to pay high tuition costs and those students still have to pay back student loans.”
As welcome as the free tuition proposal is it’s a measure that will benefit only very few people Bisson maintained.
Bisson believes the feel good message was issued to deflect from bad news contained the budget such as increases to gasoline, fuel oil and natural gas for home heating to help cover the cost for a cap and trade system Ontario will implement to reduce carbon emissions.
Bisson also questioned the numbers used by the Liberals to show that they will balance the books by 2017-18.
“They say they are going to balance the budget by 2017-2018, I don’t buy,” Bisson insisted.
Overall it’s Bisson’s view that budget will not be beneficial to Northern Ontario.
“The big problem is the government is moving to pre-capita funding model from a weighted mode,” he said. “This will hurt Northern Ontario because when you move to a pre-capita model for funding health units for example it means Northern Ontario will get less money.”
Instead provincial funding will flow to population centres making life more difficult to Northern Ontario.
Bisson was critical of the budget for rehashing previous promises on the Ring of Fire that have not been kept.
“It’s a big Ring of Nothing,” Bisson said of the Liberal’s failure to act to develop the Ring of Fire.
“Well what has been done despite these commitments? Nothing,” Bisson said.
He said that Cliffs Resources would have built their chromite mine by now if the Liberals had acted on their commitments of seven or eight years ago.
“They don’t have a plan that is going to get the Ring of Fire up and running,” Bisson said. “It’s all spin for the benefit of the Liberal government.”
Bisson pointed to Noront’s silver mine which may be ready to go, but is still bogged down trying to get all its permits.
The Liberals spinning of good news has also blurred the fact that cuts are being made to ministries such as Northern Development and Mines, Agriculture and Foods, Economic Development and Trades and Francophone Services.
“People aren’t aware in the budget that major cuts have been made in the budget to ministries that are important for economic development in Ontario,” said Bisson.
To read the highlights of the Ontario Budget click here
