The Ontario Liberal government promises to balance the budget by 2017, provide relief from high hydro costs to people of Ontario as well as a post secondary education grants program, infrastructure funding for the Ring of Fire and provincial highways and bridges including many in Northern Ontario.
The theme of the Speech from the Throne was Build Up Ontario — a phrase that was repeated often in acknowledgement of the mandate from the 2014 provincial election in which the Wynne government won a majority.
The Wynne government pledges to accomplishes this by investing in better infrastructure, stronger pensions, improved skills training and a competitive business climate.
“Your government is committed to its balanced plan, which has helped to grow Ontario's economy. It is a plan to strengthen our economic foundation in a way that benefits everyone,” read Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell.
“It is a plan to build Ontario up in a way that is responsible and sustainable — both financially and environmentally,” continued Dowdeswell. “Three years ago, your government recommitted to eliminating the deficit by 2017-18, next year's budget will be a balanced budget.“
Specific programs that will be priorities for the Wynne government include:
-
Enhancing child care by create another 100,000 spaces over the next five years, so that working families can find quality, affordable care.
-
The government will create a new Ontario Student Grant for all, regardless of family income. For students from lower-income and many middle-income families, it would make the tuition portion of the average postsecondary experience absolutely free. It will also commit to building new campuses and modernizing old labs.
-
18 more hospitals will be build over the next five years across Ontario and 30,000 more seniors will be eligible for reduced costs on prescription drugs.
-
An Indigenous Health Action Plan will be introduced.
-
Over the next five years, about 5,000 kilometres of highways will be built or repaved — and more than 750 bridges will be built, repaired or rebuilt. Of those about 2,400 kilometres of these highways and 200 of these bridges will be in Northern Ontario.
The government also pledged to provide greater access to the Ring of Fire by working with First Nations and moving forward to improve access to remote First Nations communities.
The Ontario government will build 350 kilometres of new rapid transit over the next decade in Waterloo, Hamilton, Mississauga, Ottawa and Toronto.
The Wynne government will continue building a competitive business environment, driven increasingly by innovative, low-carbon industries that support growing the economy and creating good jobs.
Relief from high hydro costs will come when legislation is introduced to provide a “rebate — directly on consumers' residential electricity bills — an amount equal to the provincial portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax” for an eight per cent savings. The rebate would go into effect on January 1, 2017. Small businesses would also receive the rebate.
Government will also reintroduce election finance reform legislation to prohibit MPPs in all parties from attending fundraising events.
“It’s more promises, promises,” said John Vanthof MPP for Timiskaming Cochrane.
The Highway and bridge building touted in the speech from the throne is nothing new, it is part of the ongoing Infrastructure Program that helps maintain provincial highways,“ Vanthof pointed out.
“On the Ring of Fire I have sat through the last three speeches from the throne and everyone of them has pledged action on the Ring of Fire but nothing has been done so far,” Vanthof said. “I wish them well and hope that this time the keep their promise on the Ring of Fire."
High electricity costs have been a major issue in Northern Ontario and Vanthof says it is about time the government acted to remove the eight-percent provincial sales equivalent from the cost of hydro.
“We have been saying this for years and several years ago Mike Mantha, NDP MPP Algoma-Manitoulin, introduced a private members bill to great opposition from the liberal government,” Vanthof said.
“I am glad that they are taking one of our long-standing programs and implementing it,” Vanthof acknowledged. “They should have done it sooner.”
However the Liberals also should have cancelled their pledge to sell the remaining parts of Hydro One that are in public hands.
“If they are serious about keeping the cost of hydro bills down the best thing they could have done is announced the scrapping of the sale of Hydro One,” said Vanthof. "But they didn’t do that.”
“Also in the Speech from the Throne was a commitment a Northern hydro relief program, the details which are hazy as to how it will work and who may apply,” said Vanthof. “I will have to investigate this one further.”
On the announcement that the Ontario government will spend on light rapid transit in several cities in Southern Ontario and on GO Transit Vanthof said he doesn’t begrudge the expenditures because they are needed.
However, the North is not being treated equitably because it has cut the Ontario Northland train to save $12 million and never delivered on its promise to up grade the ONR bus service, in fact the opposite has happened, Vanthof added.
