Budget 2012: Provincial spending, debt still going up

NEWS RELEASE
Ted Arnott, MPP
Wellington – Halton Hills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2012

Budget 2012: Provincial spending, debt still going up
(Queen’s Park) – The McGuinty Government is being disingenuous about getting its spending under
control and reducing its deficit, says Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott.

On March 27, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan presented the Government’s 2012 budget to the Ontario
Legislature.

The budget, says Mr. Arnott, failed to address the concerns the PC Caucus has about excessive
Government spending and job creation.

“People in Wellington-Halton Hills will be disappointed in the extreme,” said Mr. Arnott. “The
Government has demonstrated no effective effort in getting its spending under control. In fact, despite
the Government’s rhetoric about cutting back, spending is up over last year and Ontario’s debt will
continue to grow dramatically next year.”

The Government’s Budget Papers show that total provincial spending will go up in the coming year from
$124.6 billion to $126.4 billion. (pg. 195 of the 2012 Ontario Budget Papers)

The net debt per capita – in effect, the amount of Provincial debt that each Ontarian owes – will rise from
$17,766 to $19,243, this year to next. It was $11,339 when Dalton McGuinty came into office in 2003.
(pg. 198, 199 of the 2012 Ontario Budget Papers)

The budget came a month after Don Drummond, the Premier’s hand-picked advisor on the restructuring
of Government services, released his report in February. The Drummond Report made hundreds of
recommendations outlining how the Government can get its budget deficit under control.

“Ontario needs a budget that will make the Province more competitive and that supports job creation,”
argued Mr. Arnott. “Since the election, I have been publically calling for an effective jobs plan for Ontario
and we still haven’t seen it.”

The PC Caucus has brought forward numerous suggestions and ideas in an effort to work constructively
with the Government to advance the interests of all Ontarians, but they were ignored.

“This budget only kicks the can further down the road and puts off the tough decisions,” Mr. Arnott stated.
“The longer we put them off, the more difficult they become.”

“This is a budget that I cannot support,” he concluded.

Tomorrow, Mr. Arnott intends to introduce a resolution into the Ontario Legislature to deal with the
provincial debt issue.

– 30 –

Ted Arnott, MPP Wellington-Halton Hills, 416-325-3880, ted.arnott@pc.ola.org