{"id":60555,"date":"2019-01-06T15:46:59","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T20:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=60555"},"modified":"2019-01-06T15:46:59","modified_gmt":"2019-01-06T20:46:59","slug":"listen-up-premier-ford-what-is-your-plan-to-eliminate-the-deficit-and-reduce-our-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/listen-up-premier-ford-what-is-your-plan-to-eliminate-the-deficit-and-reduce-our-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen Up! Premier Ford what is your plan to eliminate the deficit and reduce our debt?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler<\/p><\/div>\n

What is the plan, Premier Ford?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week, I wrote about the huge federal debt we are facing going in to an election year; a deficit nearly three times the size Justin Trudeau promised when he became Prime Minister and a balanced budget delayed to 2040, not 2020, as he had committed to. The debt itself now sits at $665 billion. These are not Conservative facts; these are Government facts. I stand by what I said in that column. Federal finances are in a serious mess, endangering our economic future and Justin Trudeau should be held to account for this when the election is held in October.<\/p>\n

However, former Huntsville Mayor, Claude Doughty, in a comment to last week\u2019s column made an extremely valid argument when he pointed to the financial mess that Ontario is in. It is at least as big a problem as our Federal debt. As Doughty says, and as I have said on numerous occasions, Ontario has the largest sub-national debt of any jurisdiction in the entire World. There is simply no excuse for that and future generations will pay dearly for it.<\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n

What is staggering is that Ontario has been a Province since 1867 and yet 87 per cent of its public debt, that was projected to be more than $348 billion by the end of last year, has been accumulated only since 1990! All political parties must take a degree of responsibility for this. During that period, the N.D.P. were in power for five years, the Conservatives for eight years and the Liberals for 15 years. The Liberals, under David Peterson were also in power between 1985 and 1990 during which time he increased the provincial debt by $10 Billion. To my recollection, the only time a budget was balanced was when Mike Harris was Premier. Kathleen Wynne claimed to balance the budget in 2017 but in fact, $6.276 billion was added to the Provincial debt in that year.<\/p>\n

There is one significant difference between the financial challenges faced by the Federal Government and those faced by the Ontario Government. In Ottawa, Justin Trudeau and his government are nearing the end of their mandate, during which he has added significantly to the National debt. He is running out of time to do anything significant about it and indeed has shown little interest in doing so. Doug Ford in Ontario, on the other hand, is just six months into his majority mandate. He did not create the debt or the financial crisis that Ontario faces but he did run on a platform to fix it. He has three and a half years left to do that.<\/p>\n

And so Premier Ford, it is a fair question to ask. What is your plan? We know that \u201cHelp is on the Way\u201d and that \u201cOntario is open for Business\u201d but what is your actual plan to eliminate the deficit and significantly reduce our debt? What do you plan to do to get our credit rating back and to make people feel better about our economic future?<\/p>\n

The hard truth is that there are no easy answers and there is no alternative to harsh measures if Ontario is to return to the economic engine of Canada that it once was. We have a very deep hole to dig out of. Sunny ways have not cut it in Ottawa and they will not cut it here. We need reality. If Doug Ford\u2019s goal is to be a popular and well- liked Premier over the remainder of his term, he is either going to be disappointed or he will not be doing his job. It is as simple as that. There are too many people who will not like what has to be done, especially when it affects them. \u201cNot in my back yard, they will say\u201d. It\u2019s a populist thing.<\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n

During the last six months we have seen some glimpses of what we can expect from a Ford Government. They appear to be on an austerity agenda with some cuts and reduction costs here and there and little new spending. But these are small, ad hoc, measures, that do little if anything to fix the real problem and do not set a pattern for genuine and effective financial reform. What we need, what we desperately need to see, is a Grand Plan.<\/p>\n

That plan may come in a Provincial Budget, but it needs to come this year and it needs to spell out long term initiatives that will balance budgets, reduce debt and ensure Ontario\u2019s economic future. There is no more time to waste. Here are just a few things that need to be considered.<\/p>\n