The federal government has “ripped off” Ontarians with a budget that does little to help the country’s economic engine, thundered a furious provincial Finance Minister Charles Sousa.
“They’re pulling the rug right out from under us. What has happened here is not fair. All we’re asking is for Ontarians to be allowed to keep a little bit more of their money,” Sousa told reporters at Queen’s Park Tuesday.
“Unilateral actions by the federal government have shortchanged and ripped off the people of Ontario,” he said, noting Ontarians send $11 billion a year more to Ottawa each year than is transferred back.
“This year, when Ontario should have received a transfer payment protection, our province was denied. We’re being penalized for being the leanest government in Canada.”
To underscore the province’s scorn, Sousa and Premier Kathleen Wynne on Wednesday will unveil a 30-page “laundry list” of the billions of dollars that Ontario residents should be receiving from their federal government.
Sousa said in Tuesday’s budget “at a minimum Ontario should have received $641 million” from Ottawa to offset lower equalization payouts.
Under the federal wealth-sharing program, money is sent to “have-not” provinces to ensure they can provide comparable levels of public services, such as health care, across the country.
But Ottawa’s overall 2014-15 funding to Ontario, including health and social transfers, will be $19.158 billion — down $641 million, or 3.24 per cent, from last year’s $19.799 billion allotment.
The provincial government had hoped federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty— one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s 72 Ontario MPs out of the 106 voters send to Ottawa — would help with a one-time payment to ensure no decrease in transfer allotments.
“They’re playing political games and putting our economic recovery in the crosshairs,” complained Sousa, who insisted the province was still on track to eliminate its $11.7 billion deficit by 2017-18.
“Notwithstanding the kick in the teeth that the federal government has given Ontario with regards to the massive cuts that they’ve made to this province — even though they’ve increased funding for provinces like Quebec by $1.8 billion or Alberta by $1.2 billion — Ontario will do what’s necessary to meet our targets.”
Despite his fiery rhetoric, Sousa seemed less vexed about the controversial Canada Jobs Grant that will be launched on April 1, conceding “some headway” has been made in that federal program.
He also welcomed federal money for Chrysler’s Windsor minivan plant, though more is needed.
Earlier in the day, Wynne expressed concern that the federal Tories appeared to be allowing ideological differences with the provincial Liberals to get in the way of helping the province.
“If this government thought it was important to invest for example in the oilsands in Alberta, why wouldn’t they to invest in the Ring of Fire, that big chromite deposit in northern Ontario?” Wynne said on CP24.
“If Finance Minister Jim Flaherty doesn’t like me or doesn’t like our government, that’s okay, but it’s not okay to talk down to Ontario. It’s not okay to treat the people in Ontario inequitably in comparison to the rest of the country,” she said.
“That’s the part we really take issue with.”