All three Ontario parties promise orgy of spending
Three major political parties are giving Ontarians the illusion of choice in the June 2 provincial election, but there’s one problem: not one of them gives a hoot about fiscal responsibility, not even Doug Ford’s PCS.
During Monday’s official leaders’ debate, Liberal Steven Del Duca repeatedly accused Ford of wanting to refight the 2018 election. If only it were so. Back in 2018, Ford was offering to balance the budget and cut taxes. Now, Ford is promising a $19.9-billion deficit this year and boasting about all the money he’s going to spend and all the stuff he’s going to build as part of the biggest budget in Ontario history.
One of the most telling moments of the debate came when moderator Steve Paikin asked, “Do any of you feel the obligation to be more prudent in your spending plans?”
It was all the leaders could do not to burst into laughter. The NDP’S Andrea Horwath gave a non-answer about fixing the things that were broken. She plans on a lot of fixing. The NDP would run a $21.5-billion deficit in the first year, but offers a vague hope of balancing the books six years from now.
Del Duca mused about eliminating the deficit by 2026, but there is one “important covenant.” The Liberals wouldn’t create “chaos and havoc” by restricting spending on public education, public health care, economic dignity, small business support, elder care and the fight against climate change. So, the Liberals might balance if they ever run out of ways to spend money on their favourite things.
The prudence question would have been a slam dunk for 2018 Doug Ford, but the 2022 version is all about jobs and spending. The closest Ford could get to talking about former PC priorities was the suggestion that he’s “a strong believer in putting money back in people’s pockets.” In the case of his licence-sticker refund gimmick, he’s putting back money he’s already taken out. It’s hard to see the net gain. The PCS plan to balance the budget by 2027-28.
It’s not just deficits where the three parties’ traditional images have blurred. The PCS are touting endorsements from several labour unions. Del Duca is championing Ford’s temporary gas tax cut and saying it doesn’t go far enough, even though federal Liberals believe higher gas taxes will save the planet. The NDP climate plan includes a capand-trade system, an old Liberal idea that the PCS killed and the Libs have now abandoned.
On the critical issue of taxes, something formerly associated with spending, the NDP is showing a glimmer of responsibility, promising to raise taxes on businesses and the rich to pay for part of its spending plan. The Liberals propose a modest cut for small businesses but also want more from big corporations and big earners. Other than a tweak to a low-income worker tax credit, the PCS don’t have much to say about taxes, usually a core issue for them.
It’s as if the leaders all went to a spending orgy and came home dressed in each other’s clothes.
The parties certainly know that the way to please the public is by offering stuff that appears to be free because they don’t have to pay higher taxes to get it. A recent Postmedia-leger poll showed that Ontarians like a government dental-care program, $1 public transit fares and provincial regulation of gasoline prices. Thankfully, those ideas are not part of the PC plan.
No matter which party wins June’s election, the next government is going to spend a lot of additional money on things Ontarians don’t have today but apparently desperately require. The choice, and it’s still an important one, is what people prefer to have that money spent on. Their focus on jobs and building infrastructure differentiates the PCS from the other two parties, which both favour a stronger public sector and an even greater role for government.
Neither the public nor their leaders appear to be unduly troubled by spending pressures the provincial government will face once the election euphoria is over. As an example, the federal government’s largest union wants a 13.5-percent raise over three years. That sounds crazy until one considers that inflation is running at 6.8 per cent annually. Inflation-driven wage demands will be made in Ontario’s public sector, too. Expect the cost of every good and service the government buys to go up. As well, higher interest rates will ultimately increase the cost of the borrowing all three parties promise.
Until then, let the band play on.