The Ontario government is set to release a budget on Tuesday that sources suggest will be void of the big-spending initiatives often used to entice voters.
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan is expected to deliver a "stay the course" budget Tuesday afternoon, which could go a long way toward setting the tone of the upcoming provincial election campaign.
The budget announcement comes a little more than five months before the province goes to the polls to elect its next government.
The details of the budget are set to be announced from Queen's Park at 4 p.m., but sources have already confirmed that smaller-than-expected deficits and $1.5 billion in savings over three years will be announced.
Sources suggest the deficit for the previous fiscal will come in at $16.7 billion, about $3 billion lower than projected in last year's budget.
Government sources have already confirmed that a number of other measures are to be included, and excluded, from the budget.
Measures expected to be included in the budget:
- Plans to create 60,000 new post-secondary spots by 2015-16, with 15,000 coming next fall. The full cost has been tabbed at $309 million a year once fully implemented.
- An expansion to risk management programs that help farmers offset losses from low commodity prices. The famers insurance has an estimated price tag of $150 million, but is driven by demand so that number could fluctuate.
- A few "strategic investments" in jobs and health care.
- Children's mental health will also play a key role in budget spending, CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss reports.
Measures that are not expected to appear in the budget:
- The budget will not include any tax cuts or tax increases, Bliss has learned.
- Duncan has also ruled out targeted tax credits, like those included in the federal Conservative budget last week.
Duncan has also suggested he may contract out non-essential government services if it will help use tax dollars more efficiently.
The Liberals are targeting 2017-18 as the year the province eliminates its deficit and threaten that a Conservative government would slash services to rebalance the books sooner.
"We are taking an entirely different approach from Mr. Hudak," Duncan said on Monday. "What he will do is cut $3 billion from health care, which means you have to close hospitals. It means less people will have less access to a family doctor."
Opposition Leader Tim Hudak, meantime, warns that if the budget doesn't include a tax increase, Ontarians should expect one to be announced after the election.
"They're just hard-wired to increase taxes," Hudak said Monday. "It's in their DNA."
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the better-than-expected deficit is nothing special, saying it is a common government trick to overestimate the hit so they can announce better numbers on budget day.
Horwath has called on the Liberals to replace corporate tax cuts with refundable tax credits rewarding businesses for creating jobs.
The provincial election will be held on Oct. 6.
With files from The Canadian Press
