Insurance discounts for using winter tires, more money for home care and boosted funding for Northern municipalities are among the highlights of Ontario's provincial budget, delivered Thursday afternoon by Finance Minister Charles Sousa.
Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger said he was glad to see money for Maley Drive and Highway 69 remained in the budget. Bigger said he was especially pleased to see an increase of $5 million in 2016 to a fund for Northern municipalities.
"That's part of the really good news for us, I believe,” Bigger said. “We'll wait to see how it's distributed, but it's definitely good news ... "We were looking at a $3 million reduction, annually, in (provincial funding), so this will help, definitely.
“Overall, we're pretty pleased with the budget that has been presented."
While Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas liked some elements of Sousa's financial plan, she's alarmed that the much heralded $1 billion for infrastructure into the Ring of Fire has been taken out of the budget and pushed back to 2018. That's also when Ontarians go to the polls in the next provincial election.
"Whenever a government makes a promise that depends on winning the next election, there's reason to start to doubt their commitment," Gélinas said. "It's a huge step backwards for the Ring of Fire."
While praising plans to spend more on home care, she said the province is freezing hospital budgets for the fourth straight year, putting administrators in a no-win position.
"We're looking at service cuts, program cuts, personnel cuts, reduction in the hours of care," Gélinas said. "That means less care for the people of Ontario."
A major part of the province's plan to balance the books by 2018 is by freezing public service wages. Gélinas said that could lead to more strikes similar to the CCAC nursing strike late last winter.
"We now have a deadline for a strike for the English Catholic board here in Sudbury for this Monday," she said. "It's never good. Bargaining should happen at the table, not on the picket line."
Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault said it was a different experience being on the government side on budget day, but said there's lots in Sousa's plan that will benefit the North.
"This budget is all about creating jobs and economic growth, which is good for Sudbury's economy," Thibeault said. "We're seeing the largest investment in infrastructure in our province's history -- more than $130 billion over 10 years. We're seeing leadership on a file that has been put off for far too long."
He said the $4-an-hour increase to PSW salaries will boost a health-care system that's evolving to a more patient-focused system rather than a system-focused.
"When that happens, things change – but that doesn't mean there's less services provided to the patient," he said. "There will be more money for home care services.
"That was one thing we hear loud and clear in the North. Bringing the wages up, I think, to over $16 an hour now for a PSW will really help with the retention of those employees. And that was a difficult task for some of the service providers."
While he's hoping the province can avoid a springtime of public service strikes, Thibeault said that's something to be decided at the negotiating table. But the province is committed to a “net zero” policy, which means wage increases must be funded by finding efficiencies in other areas.
"We all benefit from the great work that they do, but we're also still moving forward with a 'net zero' balance when it comes to our budget,” he says. “That would be the type of thing we hope to see through negotiations over the next little while ... So it comes down to making sure that negotiations happen at the place they're supposed to happen -- at the bargaining table.
"I hope, like everyone in the city and across the province, that the two sides come to a very quick agreement."
As for the unspecified cut in insurance rates for people who use winter tires, Gélinas said the Liberal government also promised to cut rates by 15 per cent when they were a minority.
"I'm happy it's there, but I'm a little leery to take them at their word,” she said. "I will believe it when I see it."
Budget at a glance:
-- The deficit is projected to drop to $8.5 billion this year, $4.8 billion in 2016-17, and zero in 2018.
-- A new three-cents-a-litre beer tax increase each year until 2018.
-- Cuts of 5.5 per cent to all programs except health-care and education, which are the two largest areas of spending.
-- Motorists who use snow tires will get an unspecified reduction on car insurance rates.
-- Confirmed already announced funding to four-lane Highway 69 and for the Maley Drive extension.
-- Increase of $5 million in 2016 for a fund that provides grants to Northern Ontario municipalities.
