Government’s Balanced Plan Invests in Northern Ontario
November 6, 2019The government has a balanced plan for every Ontario community, with support for Northern Ontario, including:
· Improving transportation services by exploring the transfer of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission to the Ministry of Transportation from the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, enabling centralized oversight to drive efficiencies.
· Exploring options to enhance the Ontario Northland Transportations Commission’s intercommunity bus services to help connect people in underserved Northern communities.
· Supporting the forestry sector by investing $10 million annually through the renewed Forestry Growth Fund, which will help businesses access capital, predominantly through loans and loan guarantees.
· Helping large industrial companies in Northern Ontario remain competitive through the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate program, which provides participating companies a rebate for electricity costs.
· Supporting Ontario’s mining and exploration sector by looking into options to improve access to capital for businesses in this sector.
· Investing $765 million to rebuild core components of the aging Public Safety Radio Network.
Minister Phillips announced that the government is projected to beat its deficit target for 2019–20 by $1.3 billion — reducing the projected deficit to $9 billion from the $10.3 billion outlook presented in the 2019 Budget.
The government’s plan is balanced and prudent. While making steady progress to reduce the deficit, it is investing an additional $1.3 billion in critical services. This includes more funding for small- and medium-sized hospitals, public health units, child care and programs to help our most vulnerable. In all, the government is increasing health funding by $1.9 billion and education funding by $1.2 billion.
At the same time, the government is creating a climate to support and attract business investment and job creation across the province. In the 2019 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review the government is proposing to reduce the small business Corporate Income Tax rate to 3.2 per cent from 3.5 per cent beginning on January 1, 2020. This would provide tax relief of up to $1,500 annually to over 275,000 businesses — from family-owned shops to innovative start-ups. As a result of government actions to date, Ontario’s small businesses would save $2.3 billion in 2020.
“We believe the role of government is to enable the opportunity for a better quality of life and a higher standard of living for all of our citizens,” said Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli. “By implementing our plan we are stimulating job creation, putting more money in people’s pockets, making our streets safer, our commutes shorter and our government smarter.”
LEARN MORE
· Read the 2019 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: A Plan to Build Ontario Together (ontario.ca/fallstatement)