Ontario budget: Ford government expected to outline tariff spending plan
The Ford government is set to table its annual budget on Thursday afternoon, unveiling how Ontario plans to navigate an economy buffeted by United States President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Around 4 p.m., Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy will rise in the Ontario legislature to table the critical economic document.
The budget lays out the government's spending plans and priorities for the coming year, ranging from health-care funding to tax incentives and infrastructure projects.
It also includes important indicators for the health of the provincial economy, like projected growth, debt and the number of new homes being built in the province.
Over the past week, the Ford government has teased some of the new policies expected to be included in the budget.
Announcements have included a plan to make the public portion of Highway 407 toll-free next month, a permanent cut to the gas tax and $300 million for primary care.
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Bethlenfalvy also announced a tax credit for manufacturing worth $1.3 billion over three years. The latter is likely to be one of many measures in the document relating to tariffs.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford — whose government had looked like it could be on a path to finally balance the budget — suggested tariffs had changed that reality.
'We have to look at it through a different lens now, since these tariffs have been put on us,' Ford said on Wednesday, the day before the budget was due to be tabled.
'What I can say is you have two options in a budget: you can start cutting and slashing, which I've never believed; in tougher times, you go out there, you put money into infrastructure, keeping building … we can always balance in a year or two.'
Ford likened the tariff threat to the pandemic, when governments spent tens of billions of dollars on emergency responses.
Tariff responses which strengthen the economy and protect workers must be included in the budget, the NDP said.
'This budget is a test of whether this government will choose to strengthen Ontario and build a tariff-proof future over vanity projects and delaying critical infrastructure projects, and whether they'll take a united approach to deliver the reassurance, relief and results Ontarians need right now,' NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a statement.
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The Ontario Liberals are calling on the government to consider significantly expanding health-care spending in the upcoming budget.
'This budget is a test,' said Bonnie Crombie, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. 'Doug Ford can either put forward a plan that invests in people or he can continue to waste public money on well-connected insiders.'
The Greens called for a new housing push in the budget and measures to protect farmland.
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