Ontario electricity prices are rising much faster than inflation and worse than the national electricity costs trend.
kathleen wynne
This year, Ontario is projected to run its eighth consecutive budget deficit, which will be approximately $7.5 billion.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has reiterated her government’s commitment to push ahead with a provincial pension plan.
Thirty-eight per cent of Ontario business owners expect to see their bottom lines shrink due to rising electricity prices.
Generation costs in Ontario have increased by 74 per cent in the last decade, and may grow to $13.8 billion by 2022.
The Ontario government's strategy to eliminate the projected $8.5 billion deficit has largely hinged on hoping revenues will grow robustly and eventually catch up to spending increases. This is a risky strategy.
Ontario’s net public debt is estimated at $287.3 billion and will hit nearly $320 billion by 2017. The evolution of this daunting number is an interesting story as the spring budget approaches.
We’ve seen this script before. Higher spending. Tax increases. Persistent deficits. Growing debt. Warnings from credit rating agencies. A government unwilling to make the tough choices to turn things around.
The other day former Ontario Premier Bob Rae, fumed at a column by economist Jack Mintz who noted the similarities between the current Kathleen Wynne government and Rae’s reign as premier of Ontario, specifically the “high deficits, debt and taxes.”
Roughly 12 hours after Premier Kathleen Wynne was re-elected in Ontario with a majority government, bond markets and international credit rating agencies sent her a powerful message about the province’s dismal public finances.