Ontario government gives federal budget a failing grade

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called on the federal government to stop taking unilateral actions that hurt the people of Ontario.

“The new budget is yet another example of the federal government making arbitrary decisions that hurt Ontarians. We want to protect the world-class public services the people of Ontario expect and deserve, but we need the federal government to live up to its responsibilities”, said Wynne.

In its budget yesterday, the federal government cut $641 million in transfers that help support programs the people of Ontario rely on. This cut is in addition to the more than 110 actions the federal government has taken since 2006 that have hurt people and businesses across Ontario.

In recent years, the federal government has eliminated funding for programs in health care, environmental protection, community safety, and skills development and training that Ontarians rely upon to create jobs and grow the economy. Ontario has stepped in to fill in the gaps to protect the high-quality programs and services the people of Ontario deserve. For example, the province is moving ahead on its own made-in-Ontario pension plan because the federal government unilaterally ended discussions towards any agreement on enhancing the Canada Pension Plan.

In previous years, the federal government protected other provinces against declines in transfer payments. For the first time this year, the federal government has refused to provide funding when Ontario is hit.

“The federal government is shortchanging the people of Ontario and is penalizing us for being the leanest government in Canada. We had hoped that the federal government would have treated Ontarians more fairly and partnered with us to grow our economy and create jobs”, said Ontario Minister of Finance Charles Sousa.