Ontario's debt set to increase by more than $50-billion in four years, says Huron-Bruce MPP

Under a reign of Liberal spending and mismanagement, Ontario's debt is set to increase by more than $50-billion in the next four years, and this spells bad news for rural Ontario, says Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson.

 

In a report published July 19, Ontario's Financial Accountability Office determined that Ontario's debt is expected to rise to $350-billion by 2020-21. Currently, Ontario's debt burden is one of the highest among provincial governments, clocking in at $296.1-billion as of March 31, 2016.

 

Financial Accountability Officer Stephen LeClair went on to report that while he believes the Liberals will artificially balance the budget in time for the next election, through the one-time sell-off of Hydro One and prime LCBO real estate in Toronto, the manner in which premier Kathleen Wynne is conducting the province's business is, unfortunately, setting Ontario up to fall back into a deficit after 2018.

"Ontarians must call the premier out on her poor fiscal management," says Thompson. "Rural Ontario is already feeling the effects of increasing hydro rates and cuts to much-needed, front-line health care. It's time the premier and her government stopped putting their own priorities ahead of the realities and needs Ontarians face every day. After they have sold off everything they can, Wynne won't have any choice but to raise taxes to maintain her government's bad spending habits. No one can afford the Liberal path that we're on.

 

"The premier has frequently lectured on what kind of world we should be leaving for our children and grandchildren. Her government's reckless spending and mismanagement, however, do not promise a better Ontario for future generations. Will good things continue to grow in Ontario? Under the Wynne government, the answer is, sadly, no."