Promise History
1.03.27 - “Return to a balanced budget on a responsible timeframe”
28-Apr-2022
During the 2018 election campaign, Doug Ford stated that, if elected, the Progressive Conservatives would balance the provincial budget in the third or fourth year of their first term. Ontario’s current budget deficit, however, has more than doubled since the 2018/2019 fiscal year. While this deficit is largely due to the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had already been projected in 2019 (i.e. before the onset of the pandemic) that Ontario would not return to a balanced budget by 2022—that is, the end of the Ford government’s mandate. For this reason, the promise is considered broken.
“Ontario Premier Doug Ford is banking on billions of dollars in infrastructure spending to get him re-elected to a second term in office, relying on continued deficits to fuel campaign promises.”
24-Mar-2021
“Ontario is projecting a $38.5 billion deficit in 2020‑21. Over the medium term, the government projects steadily declining deficits of $33.1 billion in 2021–22, $27.7 billion in 2022–23 and $20.2 billion in 2023–24.”
Chapter 3: Ontario’s Fiscal Plan and Outlook
05-Nov-2020
“For 2020–21, the government is projecting a deficit of $38.5 billion, unchanged from the deficit forecast at the time of the 2020–21 First Quarter Finances. Over the medium term, the government is forecasting deficits of $33.1 billion in 2021–22 and $28.2 billion in 2022–23.”
Ontario’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook in Brief
04-Jun-2019
“Ontario’s deficit is projected to be $11.7 billion in 2018-19. […] We have a plan that will: […] put Ontario on a path to balance the budget in a responsible way by 2023-24.”
Ontario’s finances
12-Jul-2018
During the 2018 election campaign, Doug Ford stated that, if elected, the Progressive Conservatives would balance the provincial budget in the third or fourth year of their first term. Ontario’s current budget deficit, however, has more than doubled since the 2018/2019 fiscal year. While this deficit is largely due to the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had already been projected in 2019 (i.e. before the onset of the pandemic) that Ontario would not return to a balanced budget by 2022—that is, the end of the Ford government’s mandate. For this reason, the promise is considered broken.
“During the campaign, [Premier Doug] Ford repeatedly told reporters that the province’s nearly $12-billion deficit would be flattened in his government’s first term. For example on May 23 he said: “we aren’t going to balance the first year, maybe not the second year but we will balance maybe the third or fourth year, our goal is to balance the budget.”
Ford’s first throne speech leaves out timeline for a balanced budget
For The People: A Plan for Ontario
Reference Documents
“During the campaign, [Premier Doug] Ford repeatedly told reporters that the province’s nearly $12-billion deficit would be flattened in his government’s first term. For example on May 23 he said: ‘we aren’t going to balance the first year, maybe not the second year but we will balance maybe the third or fourth year, our goal is to balance the budget.’”
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