Ontario may increase deficit to match federal projects

Posted on January 27, 2009 in Debates, Governance Debates

—

TheGlobeandMail.com – National – Ontario may increase deficit to match federal projects
January 27, 2009.   KAREN HOWLETT

TORONTO — The Ontario government is prepared to match federal funding for infrastructure projects, a move that could saddle the province with a larger deficit, says Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.
“We do agree that the need for stimulative infrastructure investment is important,” he told reporters yesterday. “We have a huge infrastructure deficit, even with the money governments are putting out.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty also commented last night on the unprecedented wave of spending plans announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government ahead of today’s federal budget, including a $4-billion infrastructure stimulus fund and $1.5-billion for training programs for laid-off workers.

Mr. McGuinty told reporters at a Toronto Board of Trade dinner last night that the federal measures will call for new spending on the part of the province.

“I think that’s fair,” he said. “The whole purpose of the stimulus package and our combined efforts is to make commitments to do things that we hadn’t originally planned to do.”

Mr. Duncan projected last fall that the province would end fiscal 2008-09 with a deficit of $500-million. He is now saying the deficit will be larger even without extra spending on infrastructure.

Ontario government officials have been seeking more funding from the federal government for infrastructure projects as well as training programs for laid-off workers.

Mr. Duncan attributed Ottawa’s new generosity to a willingness to work with the provinces to help stimulate the economy. “It appears to be a conversion on the road to Damascus,” he said.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 12:48 pm and is filed under Debates, Governance Debates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply