OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas and First Vice-President/Treasurer Eduardo (Eddy) Almeida are demanding that the Ford government abandon the secret tax cuts discovered by the province’s Financial Accountability Officer (FAO).
“These secret tax cuts will hurt each and every person in the province,” said Thomas. “If you need health care, you’ll be hurt. If you have kids in school, you’ll be hurt. If you ever drive on the highway, you’ll be hurt.
“Ontario is already behind the other provinces when it comes to investing in public services. And as the FAO just discovered, Ford is planning to slash that investment by a whopping $1,000 per person so he can hand more tax cuts to his corporate buddies.”
In a report issued Dec. 9 called “Assessing Ontario’s Medium-Term Budget Plan,” the FAO confirms what OPSEU leaders have been saying since the Ford government was elected: tax cuts don’t spur economic growth and only do incredible damage to Ontario’s public services.
“Based on the FAO’s analysis, the demand for public services will exceed the government’s planned program spending by approximately $5 billion by 2021-22, after accounting for the government’s measures to cut costs,” said the report. “There is a significant risk that the fiscal plan will not provide sufficient resources to meet future ongoing demand for key public services.”
Almeida praised the FAO for the dogged research that went into the report.
“It’s easy to see why the premier is trying to keep his plans secret — the only people who will be happy about it are his rich friends and party backers,” said Almeida. “But now that the cat has been let out of the bag, it’s time for Mr. Ford to do the right thing and abandon this wrong-headed approach once and for all.
“If he continues doing things that leave Ontario in last place, Ontario will leave him and the Conservatives in last place the next time we go to the polls.”
For more information:
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas, 613-329-1931