http://www.nugget.ca/2016/02/26/finance-minister-out-of-touch-with-ontario

Vic Fedeli

Time and time again, the Ontario Liberal government, under Kathleen Wynne, has made grandiose announcements with no plan – or in some cases – no intention whatsoever to deliver results.

The 2016 budget is no different. The contents again show this government is all about misdirection and delusion. They’re all about aspiration, but never about the actual operation; they promise first, and worry about the details later.

Kathleen Wynne preached openness and transparency when she became premier – but couldn’t shut down the gas plant scandal hearings fast enough after winning a majority government. Criminal charges have since resulted from information uncovered at those hearings.

She made a political deal with the NDP in 2013 to prop up her government with a pledge to reduce auto insurance premiums by 15 per cent, and didn’t get even halfway to that target. “Stretch goal,” our revisionist historian called it.

We saw it again recently with the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.

Ignoring her own internal analysis and advice, the complexity and costs involved, and a chorus of opposition from job-creators, the Liberals pushed forward on this as a means to a political end.

Now, they’ve realized they’re in over their heads, delaying implementation by a year, and they’ve been forced to ask their federal cousins to help them save face.

The finance minister has insisted he’ll balance the budget by 2017-18, and continues to do so, despite the Financial Accountability Officer stating that in all likelihood he won’t.
The premier stood in front of a Beer in Grocery Stores banner last year to announce she was selling off Hydro One.
In the 2014 election, the premier promised Jobs Not Cuts. Today, nurses are being laid off by the hundreds across this province. The list goes on.

After touring the province and listening to people’s concerns, the Ontario PC caucus presented three requests for this budget:

First, include a credible plan to make energy affordable in Ontario, and include halting any further sale of shares of Hydro One.

Second, include a plan to properly manage Ontario’s health-care system, including reversing the current and planned cuts to doctors, nurses and hospitals.

And third, a credible plan to balance the budget, including immediate action to pay down the debt.

The finance minister, showing how absolutely out-of-touch he is with Ontarians, called these requests “fiscal fantasy world.” Being able to pay your hydro bill each month is fantasy?

Having enough staff and resources in your hospital to provide adequate care is fantasy? I call them standards of living families expect their government to deliver in 2016.

By moving the budget date up two months this year, the minister demonstrated the new height of arrogance this government has ascended to.

We know from experience that it takes weeks, if not months, to prepare the budget. That means while MPPs toured the province, at some expense, to hold pre-budget hearings, the minister was busy ignoring you because his budget was already written.

This year’s shiny bauble of distraction is selling wine in grocery stores. The announcement, which was supposed to take place late last year, was mysteriously bumped back to coincide with the budget.

Why?

The same reason Kathleen Wynne yelled BEER! - to distract from the despised Hydro One sale last year. The government wanted to distract from the fact taxes are going up on alcohol, gasoline and home heating, and tax credits that helped children, students, seniors and families are being eliminated. In fact, seniors will now have to pay almost double for their prescription drugs.

As a Northerner, it’s disappointing that the only paragraph in the budget on the Ring of Fire was watered-down language from the 2014 budget where it was first announced. No progress is being made on one of the biggest potential job-creators in Ontario.

The Wynne Liberals can delete, deny, delay and distract all they want. The simple fact is this: Until Ontario’s poor financial state is properly addressed, this government will continue to cut funding to doctors, close needed schools and raise hydro rates to make up for their scandal, waste and mismanagement.

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli is Ontario PC finance critic