The carbon-pricing scheme is now projected to generate $1.9 billion in revenue next year, up from $1.3 billion estimated a few months ago, based on a price of about $18 per tonne.
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Under the new Ontario Student Grant, students from families making $50,000 or less will be eligible for grants covering the average cost of postsecondary tuition. The province will provide grants large enough to cover the entire tuition of college students whose annual family income is less than $50,000. Some seniors will pay more for prescriptions and wine prices will rise.
Finance Minister Charles Sousa will close the books on 2015-16 with a $5.7-billion deficit. “We are pleased that the government has heard us and has provided targeted, much-needed funding to long-term care residents with behavioural issues”. As one sop, the province is eliminating the $30 Drive Clean levy. The Ontario Student Aid Program website lists 24 different programs, which also complicates communication with students. That same student, if their family earned more than $100,000 each year, has a 63 per cent chance of getting a postsecondary education.
The Ontario government is moving to make tuition free for students in financial need.
But Walker says there is no estimate of the cost of that promise, and what about those with higher incomes. The economy-wide cap would decline by about 4.2 percent a year starting in 2017 through the 2020 target.
While increasing gasoline by 4.3 cents a litre will be harder on people in the North, Thibeault said money raised will only be used for green initiatives.
To achieve this, the government intends to restructure the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP), set new requirements for tuition administration at universities and colleges, and amend its transfer payment system.
Ontario’s net debt however, which has been called the biggest debt pile of any sub-sovereign in the world by Moody’s Investors Service, is projected to grow to C$308 billion next year from C$296 billion.
But NDP Leader Andrea Horwath told reporters she is concerned it will come in the form of many cuts, pointing to $430 million taken from the education sector and previous eliminations from Ontario’s healthcare industry.
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“I understand people’s concerns in Sudbury and Northern Ontario when it comes to gas prices”, he said. “Not a dime of what you’re going to end up paying in increased gas and heating costs is going to go to help the environment, it’s all going to improving the province’s bottom line”. And despite low interest rates, spending on interest on the debt -$11.8 billion this year and $13.1 billion in 2018-19 – is growing twice as quickly as any program spending area.
