The Ontario government under the re-election of Premier Doug Ford will continue to focus on economic growth, building roads, infrastructure and housing, and “better jobs and higher wages.”
The speech from the throne read by the lieutenant governor. Elizabeth Dowdeswell on Tuesday afternoon kept the course set by the Progressive Conservatives’ spring campaign despite rapidly rising inflation and a worsening health care crisis in the more than two months since the party won a second majority on June 2.
“In the months and years to come, your government will continue to do what has served this province’s economy so well: cut red tape, keep taxes low, foster an environment that attracts global capital, and make targeted investments that strengthen competitive advantage.” of Ontario,” Dowdeswell read from the 20-page speech.
“Amid growing uncertainty, the road ahead will not always be easy. But Ontarians can rest assured that their government is and will continue to be relentlessly focused on protecting the strength of the province’s economy.”
The speech noted “a growing sense of uncertainty” in the global economy, noting new variants of COVID-19, inflation and strain on global supply chains exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with a “generational job shortage” in Ontario. which has left 370,000 jobs currently unfilled.
“Taken together, these looming fiscal and economic challenges cannot be underestimated or ignored. They must be met head-on. And there are no easy solutions,” Dowdeswell read. “His government is steadfast in its commitment to a path forward centered on economic growth, not painful tax hikes or spending cuts.”
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy also reintroduced the 2022-23 budget first tabled in April, too late to pass before the election. The latest version contains few changes except a small increase in monthly payments for people with disabilities and a large amount of cash for parents to pay for tutoring costs for children who fell behind amid marathon school closures. Ontario schools during the pandemic.
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The throne speech touted plans already announced to add long-term care and hospital beds, expand home and community care programs and build hospitals, as well as hire more than 27,000 new employees for long-term care homes by 2025. .
“While these historic investments have helped support the province’s health system during the most challenging period in modern history, there is no question that, like health systems across Canada, they continue to experience significant pressures, including a depleted workforce and increasingly stressed emergency departments.”
The speech from the throne read by the lieutenant governor. Elizabeth Dowdeswell on Tuesday held the course set by the Progressive Conservatives’ spring campaign despite rapidly rising inflation and a worsening health care crisis. #ONpoly
Neither the speech nor the budget offered details on how the government might address the worsening staffing shortage that has led hospitals to close emergency departments and other departments, a shortage of intensive care beds and cascading shortages. throughout the health care system.
“Your government is actively engaging with health system partners to identify urgent and workable solutions and will implement the necessary measures to help alleviate immediate pressures, while ensuring the province is ready to stay open through any winter. [COVID-19] surge,” Dowdeswell read.
Opposition parties have demanded that the government increase nurses’ salaries and repeal Bill 124, which caps salary increases at one percent per year, to stem the outflow of health care personnel, particularly nurses.
“Our health system hasn’t seen this kind of crisis in generations,” said Catherine Fife, financial critic of the opposition official NDP, in response to the budget. “Deep down, our healthcare heroes are exhausted, go nuts every shift, and feel unappreciated. And as long as Doug Ford continues to dig his heels into [on Bill 124] and pay health care workers poorly, that sense of disrespect and underestimation will continue.”
Acting NDP leader Peter Tabuns said there are 3,400 fewer health care and social workers in the province compared to last month. “Since April, we have only seen hope diminish,” Tabuns said.
Neither the throne speech nor the budget mentions specific plans to address climate change or protect the environment. The Ford government touted its success in attracting investment to the auto sector for battery and electric vehicle manufacturing, boasting that the province “is now firmly on track to become a leading electric vehicle producing capital in North America.” “. The speech also noted investments in steel mills in Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie, where public money will help plants transition from coal-fired furnaces to electricity to create “clean, green steel.”
Ontario currently boasts one of the cleanest power grids in the world, largely thanks to previous Liberal governments phasing out coal-fired power generation, but that will change in the coming years as nuclear generation declines and the province turns to natural gas to power its grid.
The Ford administration remains steadfast in its plans to spend more than $86 billion over 10 years on building highways, subways and expanding transit services. That includes the controversial Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, though the latter project is currently under federal review.
Mike Schreiner, leader of the provincial Green Party, said Ontarians face unprecedented challenges in health care, inflation, housing costs and the climate emergency.
“But what did we hear in today’s speech from the throne in Queen’s Park? Not a single word acknowledging that we are facing a climate crisis,” Schreiner said, calling on the government to cancel the roads that would cut through the protected green belt.