THUNDER BAY – The first provincial budget since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic will set records for its total spending and the size of its deficit, but Thunder Bay’s opposition MPPs say it still falls dangerously short on funding for public health, education, and long-term care.
The document found a warmer reception with the local chamber of commerce, which praised relief offered to corporations through lower taxes and new support programs.
The $187 billion budget tabled by finance minister Rod Phillips Thursday includes a record $38.5 billion deficit, largely driven by pandemic spending and relief measures.
“The current levels of government spending are neither sustainable nor desirable over the long run,” Phillips said in the provincial legislature. “But, as the global pandemic continues around the world, they remain necessary today.”
Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell, a member of the Official Opposition NDP, said while the spending number may be large, much of it had already been announced (that’s partly because the budget was delayed from its usual spring tabling due to COVID-19).
She and Liberal colleague MPP Michael Gravelle, in separate interviews, both criticized the government for a lack of dedicated funding for public health measures, lowering class sizes, and improving standards in long-term care (LTC) homes.
Both representatives had hoped to see the government’s recent commitment to a new LTC standard of care, of four hours of direct care per day for residents, reflected in the document.
“I think we were all expecting to see some details of that in the budget, which is exactly where it should be,” said Gravelle.
For Monteith-Farrell, the premier’s explanation that consultation was required before announcing details on the LTC commitment didn’t cut it.
“We know the problem requires more staff, and we can do that right away,” she said “It’s not something we need to consult on – that’s a no-brainer.”
Both also questioned a lack of dedicated funding for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing efforts. That doesn’t mean there won’t be new spending on those key strategies, Gravelle reasoned, but leaves Ontarians in the dark as to the government’s commitment to expanding them.
Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson was happier with new measures in the budget aimed at supporting businesses.
Those include allowing municipalities to reduce small business property taxes, increasing the exemption for the Employer Health Tax to $1 million, significant new energy subsidies for industrial and commercial users, and a reduction in the Business Education Tax that supports school boards (the province has said it will compensate boards with increased grants).
“There’s really a lot here to try to support businesses of all sizes to get through this pandemic – not only just to survive, but hopefully for some of them to continue to grow through this,” Robinson said.
“I think they’ve done a really good job of identifying where help is needed and trying to find supports that will address issues across the board, for small business, medium, businesses, and large businesses.”
It’s an approach Monteith-Farrell took some issue with, saying she would have preferred to see supports targeted more narrowly to small businesses and those disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Robinson, however, said those broad measures could be helpful in delivering savings to businesses without too much red tape.
“They’re trying to support [businesses] through things that aren’t necessarily highly bureaucratic,” she said. “A [cut to the] Business Education Tax means your property taxes will go down – you don’t have to apply, you don’t have to wait for some process to be put in place.”
Robinson also praised new retraining funding to help workers impacted by COVID-19.
While she sees some renewed optimism in the local business community, with fewer owners questioning whether they’d survive the pandemic, support remains badly needed, she said – particularly as bills that may have been deferred to provide relief, like WSIB, income tax, and employee taxes, are now coming due.
“I think we still have a large percentage [of businesses], comparatively, that are still in trouble and… trying to figure out what is their path forward, or do they have a path forward,” she said.
