Windsor critics question how Ontario will pay for balanced budget
NDP and political scientist slam balanced budget, saying the plan lacks substance
Despite promises of high-speed rail for southern Ontario and a new mega-hospital for the Windsor region, Ontario's first balanced budget in 10 years lacked substance, says a Windsor analyst.
The Liberals boasted about balancing the budget Thursday, but there was little talk about how they were going to pay for it, explained Lydia Miljan, political science professor at the University of Windsor.
She sees the party shifting its policies slightly to the left as it gobbled up a version of the NDP's pharmacare plan, while banking on a bustling economy to help deliver on some big promises.
"It's nice for them to say, technically, they have a balanced budget, but there's no way to know that in fact it is balanced," Miljan told CBC News. "They have a lot of multi-year promises, so certainly they can pay for their budget this year, but a lot of their spending doesn't kick in until next year, the year after, the year after that."
Windsor NDPs slam budget
Opposition MPPs from the Windsor region were also quick to jump on the budget, they too saying it lacked an explanation as to how the government would pay for some of the big-ticket items.
The government talked about plans for high-speed rail between Toronto and Windsor during the budget speech. Those comments echoed Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca, who earlier this week said a report on high-speed rail is expected to be presented at Queen's Park in the coming weeks.
Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky said the Liberals have been promising high-speed rail for years without ever spending money on it. Thursday was just more of the same for Gretzky, who said there was no outline for how much such a project would cost.
"There's no commitment to money, there's no commitment to a timeline," she said. "That was an announcement they made when I ran in 2014, it's something they've talked about for a long time and there's no money in it."
Miljan sees the Liberals gearing up for an election next year as they promote this balanced budget and shift toward more socially responsible policies, like the new provincial pharmacare, which covers full prescription drug costs for anyone under 25.
"They certainly stole the NDP policy platform with respect to pharmacare, but it doesn't really say how they're going to pay for that."
Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield applauded the government for promising cash for Windsor's new mega-hospital, but questioned the lack of investment in general health care.
"Hospital funding is still $300 million short of what the hospitals themselves say what was needed in the budget," he said.