Post-secondary tuition will now be free for students from low-income families.
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The truly surprising thing about the new Ontario cap-and-trade emissions regime isn’t that, when so many layers of feel-good enviro-coddling spin is stripped away, it’s ultimately created to suck what could amount to hundreds of dollars from families’ pockets and funnel it into a big slush pile for the Liberals to then sprinkle treats over favoured sectors.
Ontario’s changes represent a vast leap toward a simpler student financial-aid system, which will widen access without putting additional burdens on taxpayers.
The highlight in Thursday’s budget was the introduction of free post-secondary tuition, effective in 2017, for university and college students who come from families who earn $50,000 or less per year.
Under the Ontario Student Grant, 90 per cent of college students from low-income families would get more than $2,768 for their education, which the government says is the average college tuition.
Some seniors will pay more for prescriptions and wine prices will rise.
The cap-and-trade system will collect $1.9 billion from companies that emit greenhouse gases, and industry says the majority of the costs will be recovered from consumers.
Premier Kathleen Wynne announced on Wednesday that gasoline prices will go up by 4.3 cents per litre in 2017 and natural gas prices will also increase by about $5 on a monthly basis for average homeowners.
You can read the full Ontario 2016 budget here.
Union Gas in Chatham issued a statement saying it was “concerned that households and small businesses will bear most the estimated $1.9 billion annual cost” of cap-and-trade.
What happens now, for the most part, is that students pay tuition up front and get loans, grants and tax credits that kick in later.
To offset the fuel increase, the government also announced it’s scrapping the $30 Drive Clean emission testing fees for vechicles seven years and older, although its not yet clear whether the change will cover commercial trucks. At the same time, the Government plans to spend $44 million on “Executive Offices”, up from $36.7 million previous year.
And NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says it will hurt seniors, and there was no warning for seniors budgeting on fixed incomes who will be facing huge new costs. “Net revenue gains from the sale of qualifying assets will be dedicated to the Trillium Trust to help fund public transit, transportation and other priority infrastructure”.
The New Democrats said the budget fails to address key shortfalls in health care and education spending, while also tacking on new cuts.
Low oil prices and a weaker loonie have helped Ontario lead the country in economic growth, but the province has the largest debt of any sub-national government in the world.
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“Life is harder and more expensive under the Liberals”, Brown told reporters.
