The Case of Doug Ford and His “Balanced Budget”
Back in February, The Financial Accountability Office released their Budget Outlook Update. On page 2 (!!), the update notes that the province’s budget deficit is projected to shrink from it’s 2020-2021 deficit of $16.8 billion to $2.8 billion by 2034. That is fantastic news. After running for Premier on the promise of balancing the budget, it seems as though Premier Ford is well on his way to meeting that promise. Don’t get me wrong: a balanced budget, or even a drastically reduced budget, is fantastic news! Especially considering the timing: Premier Ford is forecasted to shrink the budget deficit by $14 billion all while dealing with an unpredictable global pandemic.
But maybe that’s the problem. How did the Ford government manage to shrink the deficit? Well according to the most recent Expenditure Monitor for Q3 of the 2021-2022, the Ford government has spent $5.5 billion less than expected. The Ford government spent less on education, healthcare, and children’s and social services than it was supposed to, while the justice sector actually spent more. The real disappointment here is that you would think that during a pandemic and after all these press conferences where the Premier has talked about the impact of restrictions on kids, and the impact of the pandemic on Ontario’s healthcare system, that he would be doing everything he could and providing as much funding as possible to these sectors. The fact that this isn't even the first time the Ford government has been found to be spending less than it should makes it much harder to give them the benefit of the doubt. It is possible that the Ford government is keeping all this money saved to spend during the fourth quarter, perhaps just in time for a June election.
Gambling with the success of education, healthcare, and social services in order to try and gain political clout seems like something that should be considered reprehensible in all times, especially during a pandemic. It is also worth pointing out that there are a lot of COVID-specific funds that have yet to be planned for and so are not included in the FAO's report. This could well mean that the province will implement new programs or provide a boost in funding for the sectors mentioned above. We’ll be eagerly awaiting the Q4 report from the FAO. You can find the full Q3 report here.