THUNDER BAY – The Ontario government is spending money on the wrong things, Thunder Bay-Superior’s New Democrat MPP said after a fall economic update from Premier Doug Ford’s finance minister.
In a Zoom interview with Dougall Media, Lise Vaugeois said the public money the government will be spending on cheques to Ontarians would be better spent on health care, road safety, education and other areas.
“We've got 2.5 million people without access to a family doctor in Ontario,” she said.
“We had hallway health care while the Liberals were in government. Those numbers have doubled over the six years that the Conservatives have been in power.”
The Ford government “can say that they are spending more than they ever have before on health care,” she said.
“But that's because two to three times the amount of OHIP is going to for-profit health care.”
The Ontario PCs have the wrong priorities, Vaugeois said.
“The priorities of this government have been $225 million to get booze into corner stores (and) $600 million to pay for a parking lot for a luxury spa at Ontario Place.”
In the fall economic statement filed Wednesday in Queen’s Park, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said the deficit for 2024-25 has shrunk by more than $3 billion to $6.6 billion due in part to higher-than-expected sales tax revenue.
That’s why the province’s Progressive Conservative government will be sending each taxpayer a one-time cheque for $200 in early 2025, the finance minister said.
Bethlenfalvy also said the government will extend relief on gasoline and diesel tax so that the rate would remain at nine cents per litre until June 30.
The Liberals’ reaction to the fall economic statement was similar to what Vaugeois had to say.
“Doug Ford is more focused on billion-dollar giveaways to wealthy insiders than he is on fixing health care,” party leader Bonnie Crombie was quoted as saying in a release from the Liberals.
“People are dying on waitlists and Doug Ford is spending billions on booze, foreign spas and the Greenbelt scandal.”
Kevin Holland, PC MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan and an associate minister in Ford’s cabinet, offered a decidedly different take.
“This economic statement shows our government continues to take a fiscally responsible approach towards building the critical infrastructure that our growing communities need and making life more affordable by keeping taxes down and putting money back in the pockets of Ontarians,” Holland said Thursday.
The Ford government's record includes “incredible investments” in health care, he added.
The Ontario Public Services Employees Union criticized the government for what the union deems a “failure to adequately fund the services Ontarians rely on.”
“Throwing cheques and minor tax credits at the electorate hoping it’ll pay off for him when he calls a snap election while continuing to neglect social services is deplorable, but we shouldn’t expect anything else from Premier Ford,” union president JP Hornick said in a news release.