Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Premier Kathleen Wynne says a pre-election budget that will push the province into deficit territory for the next six years is not a last-ditch attempt to get votes but a continuation of her government’s efforts to respond to the real “anxieties” that many Ontarians are feeling.
Wynne made the comment during a one-on-one interview with CP24 on Thursday morning.
The interview came one day after the release of a provincial budget that includes $20.3 billion in new spending over the next three years.
The spending will pay for free childcare for preschool-age kids, free drugs for seniors, the largest investment in mental health care ever and a new basic dental and drug plan for those without workplace benefits.
“What we are doing in this budget is responding to the concerns people have brought to us and these investments actually build on things we have already started. They build on the foundation that we have in place,” Wynne said. “People have said to us that we are concerned about finding mental health supports for our young people and we can’t find childcare that we can afford.”
Province will run deficits of up to $6.7B
The spending included in this budget will result in the province running deficits of up to $6.7 billion for the next few years, further adding to its $300 billion plus debt in the process.
Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford has slammed the budget as proof that Wynne will “promise anything to cling to power” but the premier rejected that criticism while speaking with CP24 on Thursday.
She said that some young people may decide to have another child because they will be able to afford the childcare while some older people will continue to work fulltime because there will be greater financial supports for them to get supports in place for their aging parents.
“As far as Doug Ford goes we just have a very different world view. He believes we can cut services and cut across government and let people fend for themselves,” she said. “I know that that is not the case, I know that people need government to do the things that they can’t do by themselves and they need those supports. We see the world very, very differently.”
Speaking to CP24 on Thursday afternoon, NDP leader Andrea Horwath said many of the promises made in Wednesday’s budget are simply band-aids on problems the Liberals have been aware of for years.
“This is what we’ve seen from the Liberals all the way along. The reason there are people in lineups at hospitals is because the Liberals have been cutting hospital budgets to the bone.”
“The bottom line is they could’ve done these things over the last 15 years.”
