Ontario Budget - 2010/11 is next up.

[NAB]

Next up, the Ontario 2010-11 budget. It's going to be interesting to compare their plan's and approach to BC's, as well as see how it dovetails with the Federal Budget that they now know in advance of theirs. They had better get it right I would think, seeing as they only have 18 months to prove it to an electorate who don't have memories as short as ours in BC.

Nab


""The Ontario government is no longer contemplating the sale of any iconic Crown corporations.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan made the announcement in a speech on Friday to the Canadian Club, where he gave some hint of how he plans to tackle the province's record deficit. The government will unveil a Speech from the Throne on Monday, setting out its agenda for the remaining 18 months of its term.

"The upcoming Throne Speech and budget will not announce the sale of any asset we currently own," Mr. Duncan said in his speech.""
More to come at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le1491189/

[NAB]

Looks like the next Ontario election campaign is unofficially under way, even before their next budget is tabled. Interesting that former NDP leader Bob Rae (now a frontrunner for federal Liberal Party leadership) is constantly a standard against which Ontarian's evaluate their economic situation. ..."reckless" seems to be a common theme among Liberals (provincial and federal) these days...

Edit to add: Noted too that we are apparently going to make our new money out of plastic soon. Go figure LOL.

Nab

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""Ontario needs the Progressive Conservatives to clean up after a "reckless, failed" Liberal government, Opposition Leader Tim Hudak said Saturday as he fired up the Tory troops for the 2011 election.

Hudak unleashed a blistering attack on Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals during his keynote address to delegates at the Conservatives' annual general meeting in Ottawa.

"Our economy may have fallen apart — but our lawns are perfectly pesticide free," said Hudak. "Our factories may be closing — but Ontario is protected from the menace of the plastic grocery bag."

Under the Liberals, Ontario has fallen into have-not status, said Hudak.

Ontarians turned to the Tories in 1995 after the disastrous NDP government led by Bob Rae, and they'll turn to the party again next year, predicted Hudak.""

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2 ... z0hVYOsqci
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[Homeownertoo]

Where is BC's Tim Hudak? I've been following this guy since before he became leader, and he is one of those rare birds who actually says what voters are thinking and dares to put forward policies that haven't first been put through the PC grinder. We could really use him here before voters turn to the NDP.

[RR24K]

Where is BC's Tim Hudak? I've been following this guy since before he became leader, and he is one of those rare birds who actually says what voters are thinking and dares to put forward policies that haven't first been put through the PC grinder. We could really use him here before voters turn to the NDP.

Who is this.................... never mind googled him, another bull sh!tting politician same as want got. No it has nothing to with political parties. I have found all politicians BS their way into power, once their nothing gets done. All of Canada's political parties are the same *bleep* different pile.

Sorry if I went

[NAB]

The thing is Ontarian's by and large take their provincial politics and economics very seriously, have long memories, and have reasonable choices that we don't. They are definitely not adverse to handing a government its walking papers if it gets too reckless so we will see what their budget next week provides in the form of backpeddling. Bob Rae is an excellent example of that, and if anyone thinks that Ontarians are going to support a federal Liberal party that he influences to any great degree then they just don't know the Ontario electorate.

Edit to add: And my view is that in spite of what McGuinty and his provincial Liberals have been trying to accomplish the last few years, Ontarian's are not too happy with him, particularly over this HST thing. The Conservative Party of Ontario is well led, and is definitely the party of a provincial "Government in waiting". This would be particularly so should by some stretch of the imagination the federal Liberals were able to form another federal government any time soon.

Nab

[grammafreddy]

Let's hope our provincial government doesn't pull this one like Ontario is ...

Ont. pays severance but workers keep jobs
Tax collectors get up to $45,000 for switching employer
Last Updated: Thursday, March 11, 2010 | 4:02 PM ET CBC News

Ontario tax collectors will get a six-month "severance" package worth as much as $45,000 each as the province moves to harmonize sales taxes, even though those workers will not lose their jobs.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan says that in agreeing to the move, the province is simply honouring the terms of the collective agreement for more than 1,250 provincial collectors who will now work for the federal government.

The move is a part of the HST conversion plan, and Duncan says he's happy the Canada Revenue Agency is willing to take the extra workers.

The idea of paying off workers who are not losing their jobs, however, has infuriated the Progressive Conservatives.

"Apparently they'll continue to work in the same office," said party critic Ted Arnott, MPP for Wellington-Halton Hills. "They're not going to miss a day of work, and they're being paid up to $45,000 dollars just to change their business cards."

Duncan said the province has no choice but to pay the workers their severance.

"The Conservative government introduced that clause into the collective agreement," Duncan told Queen's Park Thursday.

Duncan says converting the employees to federal workers will save the province of Ontario approximately $100 million per year.

When asked by CBC News for exactly how much the severance payout will cost taxpayers, the government could not produce that figure.

with files from The Canadian Press

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/ ... 00311.html

[NAB]

..Birds of a feather...
Nab

Excerpts...

""..One day before introducing the Ontario budget, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced Wednesday that the Liberal government had managed to shave several billion dollars from the record $24.7 billion deficit he forecast just last fall.

Ontario will have a $21.3-billion deficit for the year ending March 31, down $3.4 billion, or nearly 14 per cent, because of tightened spending and increased government revenues "across the board," including corporate and sales taxes, said Duncan...""

""....the New Democrats accused the Liberals of greatly inflating the original deficit projection last fall and said the pre-budget release of the lower deficit figure was clearly an attempt to make themselves look like good managers.

"They're putting it out today because they want to shape how people will see their efforts," said NDP critic Peter Tabuns. "The management of the message is them saying they're really good when, in fact, they gave people a number that was incorrect in the beginning."

Revenue numbers are better than last fall, when the government relied on projections from private sector economists, but they haven't been restored to pre-recession levels yet, warned Duncan. That means it'll take closer to seven years than the five the government originally thought to balance the books....""
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/ ... z0j8rSKr8w
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[NAB]

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan tabled a $125.9 billion budget that had little in the way of new spending or direct cuts to programs. Duncan aims to cut the province's deficit by half in five years time and return to balanced books in eight years.

The budget calls for two-year wage freezes for about 350,000 non-unionized public sector workers and slows funding for long-term infrastructure commitments such as Toronto's ambitious Metrolinx

The budget said the government also planned to introduce changes to the laws governing Ontario's drug system, paving the way for lower generic drug prices, the first step in an expected revamp of the province's health care system.

It also directs energy tax credits and training money to Northern Ontario, committing $45 million for economic development in the region.

As expected, colleges and universities will get help to increase enrolment — in the form of $310 million for 20,000 new spaces. But the promised boost for health care fell short, with cash-strapped hospitals getting a mere 1.5 per cent increase in funding, a move that's bound to accelerate the closing of beds and staff layoffs in facilities across the province.

The budget also reiterates the government's plan to have full-day kindergarten classes across the province by 2015-16.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/ ... z0jE4nV0jj

[NAB]

Almost appears Ontario suffers from the same governmental misleading crap BC does....
Nab

Ontario lifted Canada up. Now it'll drag it down

The Ontario budget: why the math should not be believed

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opi ... le1512510/
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