TORONTO - Finance Minister Dwight Duncan will include a timetable to completely eliminate Ontario's record $24.7-billion deficit in the March 25 provincial budget.
Unlike the recent federal budget, which still showed a small deficit after five years, Ontario is required by law to spell out exactly how long it will take to eliminate the red ink.
Duncan, who was not available for comment Tuesday, has said it will take longer than five years to get back to balanced budgets.
Scotiabank chief economist Warren Jestin said recently that it would take a lot of hard work for the province to eliminate the deficit within seven years.
"The slow growth that we're predicting in the future is going to lead to a very long period of deficit turnaround," Jestin told the legislature's finance committee.
"Doing it in five to seven years would be an extraordinary achievement in the type of growth environment we see."
A recent forecast from the Royal Bank predicted Ontario would see growth of 3.3 per cent this year and 4.1 per cent next year, which would mean greatly increased revenues for the province.
"I'm not going to become euphoric or excited," Premier Dalton McGuinty said in reaction to the forecast last Friday. "But I remain cautiously optimistic."
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said he doesn't think taxpayers can trust any Liberal timetable to eliminate the deficit.
"I think under Dalton McGuinty we are into a structural deficit, meaning we'll have deficits for years to come under the way these guys spend taxpayers dollars," Hudak said Tuesday.
"Quite frankly, based on the past performance, I don't expect their figures will be worth the paper they're written on."
The Liberal's throne speech opening the spring session on March 8 said the government would not slash spending indiscriminately to eliminate the deficit, especially with a fragile economic recovery which has been slow to create jobs.
One huge problem for all governments is the growing cost of health care, which already accounts for 46 cents of every dollar the province spends. It could rapidly escalate in coming years as baby boomers start hitting retirement age if nothing is done to control costs.
The government has already talked about new models for funding hospitals, and the budget is expected to provide more details showing what the Liberals have in mind.
The Liberals should not be giving huge corporate tax cuts when they can't afford to properly fund hospitals, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Tuesday.
"This government has chosen to give $4.5 billion in corporate tax cuts while hospital beds are closing and nurses are being laid off," said Horwath.
The government has also talked about the possible sale of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Ontario Power Generation and the provincial lottery corporation, but officials say nothing has been finalized and asset sales will not be in the budget.
The budget will include $17 billion as the second phase of the province's economic stimulus package, but McGuinty has warned the business world that's the end of the stimulus funding.
The budget also will emphasize the development of clean water technologies that can be marketed around the world, and show how much the government expects to take in from the harmonized sales tax, which kicks in July 1.
The Liberals say the 13 per cent HST, combined with corporate and income tax cuts that started Jan. 1, will help Ontario businesses recover more quickly from the recession and start hiring people again.
