[ADRM]

Just so happens debt servicing is the third biggest line item expenditure, after health and (primary/secondary) education.

AoD

Ha, right you are - though, interestingly, the polling I'm recalling also dug into the difference in attitudes towards balancing the budget (people think it's very important) and paying down the debt (people don't think it's particularly important and are really negatively disposed to it if it means sacrificing spending on programs that they like).

 

[Palma]

I suppose you think we shouldn't vaccinate our children either . Please provide me a study in a well-known peer reviewed journal that claims that GMO foods are somehow unhealthy.

I am not even going to bother. Want to know why? I was never vaccinated for the measles or chicken pox which means I am protected for life vs those that have and can still get it. Got the measles and the chicken pox as did my 3 sisters and all my cousins and most people of a certain age.

 

[Palma]

I think there's possibly some truth to that angle, though I also expect the perception will change once folks actually start seeing the 25% come off their bills in the summer.

people are fools if having 25% come off will change anything.

 

[Tuscani01]

I just noticed that 308.com has been shut down. Anyone know of any other poll aggregators out there to fill the void?

 

[Palma]

Are you prepared to tell that to a single mother making $54,000 per year whose 19-year-old kid whose kid was just prescribed a cancer medication that costs $29,000?

I'm a strong proponent of progressive policies, but I think that agreement falls apart when it comes to healthcare; you wouldn't make it for non-pharma healthcare, so why would you make it for pharmacare? Healthcare is a universal right that Canadians are supposed to enjoy, and pharmacare has been a glaring, expensive, and strange omission to that right for years.

Universal (regardless of age) would've been great, but wildly expensive, especially with an ageing population, and perhaps premature given the ongoing federal-level discussions around nationwide pharmacare. This is absolutely a step in the right direction, and one that'll make a huge difference in people's lives. I'm all for it in a big way.

cancer medication I have never heard of - cancer therapy yes which is presently covered as no one who has cancer pays for radiation or whatever.

 

[jje1000]

Study of the impact of hydro on production costs:

• At US$54 per vehicle, the cost of electricity is higher in Ontario than any of the top 10 automotive-producing jurisdictions in the US
• The cost of electricity per vehicle is between US$6 and $18 more in Ontario than the most expensive and least expensive US jurisdictions
• Expressed in USD, the cost per vehicle of electricity in Ontario has been relatively stable in recent years. However, the stability is the result of a) more efficient use of electricity (as evidenced by per vehicle electricity use dropping by 22 percent between 2006 and 2015) and b) the declining value of the Canadian dollar

Overall, the gap in the cost of electricity per vehicle between Ontario and other automotive-producing jurisdictions is not currently large enough to seriously impair the province’s competitiveness vis-à-vis those jurisdictions. Going forward, however, the combination of continuously rising electricity rates in Ontario and rates that are projected to stay at or near the rate of inflation in the US may create the conditions to elevate what is currently an intra-jurisdictional cost irritant to the level of true inter-jurisdictional issue affecting competitiveness.

http://aprc.mcmaster.ca/sites/default/files/pubs/electricity-report-mordue-white-mar-8.pdf

A nice shocker is a chart on pg 5 showing how Ontario has gone from having some of the cheapest electricity costs in 2005 to the absolute highest costs nowadays.

 

[Northern Light]

cancer medication I have never heard of - cancer therapy yes which is presently covered as no one who has cancer pays for radiation or whatever.

Cancer medication = Chemotherapy.

This is NOT covered in Ontario if you are an out patient. Only if you are in hospital to receive it.

A single cycle of chemo can easily costs several thousand dollars; and some forms of cancer use variations that are even more expensive still.

The Trillium Drug benefit (catastrophic coverage) does partially cover it, based on income, but, on a reimbursement basis, and with very high deductibles. (several hundred for a low-income earner to several thousand for someone middle class.

There are many very expensive drugs, particularly those for rare conditions, along w/cancer, HIV, and crohns/

Good story here, from a few years ago.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1656699/the-cost-of-cancer-how-much-do-cancer-drugs-cost-canadians/

Note that all the western provinces cover outpatient cancer drugs. No province does from Ontario, east.

 

[Jasmine18]

The issue is this balanced budget will likely turn into a large deficit 'magically' after an election as I believe the level of spending and lackluster economic growth in Canada will cause that.

Just like the Harper Balanced Budget.

I do think that paying down the debt and sacrificing services is wrong but I look at this way, massive deficit spending has not really boosted the economy provincially or federally, all it has done is leave the province with a chart topping debt load and higher interest payments each year, money that could be better use for actual services.

The issue is that more of our tax money is being used to pay rich bondholders interest as we spend more as well...people always forget that.

 

[Bayer]

The issue is this balanced budget will likely turn into a large deficit 'magically' after an election as I believe the level of spending and lackluster economic growth in Canada will cause that.

Just like the Harper Balanced Budget.

I do think that paying down the debt and sacrificing services is wrong but I look at this way, massive deficit spending has not really boosted the economy provincially or federally, all it has done is leave the province with a chart topping debt load and higher interest payments each year, money that could be better use for actual services.

The issue is that more of our tax money is being used to pay rich bondholders interest as we spend more as well...people always forget that.

Economic growth in Ontario is anything but lacklustre. GDP growth is higher than in any G7 country. The issue we have in Ontario is not excessive spending, it is insufficient revenues. Per capita public spending in Ontario is among the lowest in Canada - all indications are that our spending is insufficient to meet our needs.

The alternative to deficit spending or increasing taxes would have been Hudak's solution of throwing tens of thousands of people of work, disrupting countless lives and obviously, curtailing public services.

As is the case at the municipal level in Toronto, the Ontario government is loath to increase taxes even though it is painfully obvious that we require more revenue to fund the services and infrastructure we need.

 

[Jasmine18]

Tell that to the people of the province struggling to get by that taxes are to low and have to see countless fees and taxes increased to fuel the liberals spending habits.

The Ontario government does not have to throw thousand of people out of work.

Most people want to see responsabile spending and the Ontario Liberals have not demonstrated this in any way. Any government that drives the debt to being higher than any provincial or state entity is by default incompetent. Not acknowledging this is pretty much engaging in alternative facts.

 

[steveintoronto]

The issue is that more of our tax money is being used to pay rich bondholders interest as we spend more as well...people always forget that.

Economic growth in Ontario is anything but lacklustre.

There is a a way to 'neutralize' that debt conundrum: Bond holders buy Ontario/Canadian bonds...or since they're being wound down, invest in Canada. And the Infrastructure Bank will facilitate exactly that.

Japan, for instance, has one of the highest debt ratios in the world, and most of that debt is held by...wait for it...Japanese!

 

[Bayer]

Tell that to the people of the province struggling to get by that taxes are to low and have to see countless fees and taxes increased to fuel the liberals spending habits.

The Ontario government does not have to throw thousand of people out of work.

Most people want to see responsabile spending and the Ontario Liberals have not demonstrated this in any way. Any government that drives the debt to being higher than any provincial or state entity is by default incompetent. Not acknowledging this is pretty much engaging in alternative facts.

Speaking of "alternative facts," I would like to see a list of the "countless fees and taxes" to which you refer. Taxes are much lower now than they were 20 years ago. I know because I do my own taxes, as well as the taxes for my business. And it is a fact that public spending per capita in Ontario is among the lowest in Canada. Therefore, if the deficit became too large, logic dictates that insufficient revenues were to blame. Some might be "struggling to get by" because wages are too low, housing costs are too high, or for any number of reasons that have nothing to with the business of running public services and are entirely private-sector related. Alternatively, people might just be frustrated because they cannot afford a third iPhone.

In a province where public spending is already low by Canadian standards, any attempt to avoid a deficit in the past few years would have necessarily involved service cuts - and therefore the loss of jobs - or tax increases. That is just basic logic - a quality that is in shorter and shorter supply among those who dislike Wynne for reasons that have little to do with facts, while ignoring the positive steps that the government has taken so far (and those, I could list them). (By the way, I tend to vote for the NDP, I am just allergic to the "throw the bums out" mentality.)

 

[BurlOak]

Speaking of "alternative facts," I would like to see a list of the "countless fees and taxes" to which you refer.

There is the Health Care Tax/Fee/Levee. That's an extra $700 or more per year - maybe 10% of my Provincial taxes. Wasn't there before. Strangely brought in at the same time that health services were reduced (chiropractor, vision, etc.).
Also things like hydro debt retirement charge, eco-fees (batteries, chemicals, etc.).

Taxes made a big drop a bit over 20 years ago. I would say in the past 15 years they have gone up, but maybe in the past 25 years they have gone down.

 

[narduch]

There is the Health Care Tax/Fee/Levee. That's an extra $700 or more per year - maybe 10% of my Provincial taxes. Wasn't there before. Strangely brought in at the same time that health services were reduced (chiropractor, vision, etc.).
Also things like hydro debt retirement charge, eco-fees (batteries, chemicals, etc.).

Taxes made a big drop a bit over 20 years ago. I would say in the past 15 years they have gone up, but maybe in the past 25 years they have gone down.

Don't forget cap and trade.

 

[Northern Light]

The difficulty w/statements about taxation is that there are three (or more if one counts schools or 2-tier muncipal gov'ts) levels of gov't at which they are applied.

Further, there are myriad forms of taxation.

When one examines to the OECD's data set , and looks at all tax revenue as a % of GDP, one finds Canada collectively hovering at around 31%.

This is lower than the peak which was around 35% a few years back and remains below the OECD average of 34%. Were we comparing ourselves with Europe, the more Scandinavian
countries and France are well into the 40s; while Germany is about 36%.

So our taxes overall are not at historic highs, nor lows, though closer to the low end on a 25-year basis.

They are also highly competitive on a global basis.

That said, there has been a bit of shift on who pays, in so far as business taxes have been cut much more steeply than those for individuals and families; and non-tax revenues of gov't (user fees) are up faster than inflation.

An excellent set of charts was created by RBC which include one showing revenue as a % of GDP for all provinces and the feds and has historical data back to about 1980.

http://www.rbc.com/economics/economic-reports/pdf/provincial-forecasts/prov_fiscal.pdf

It suggests Ontario taxes are near the bottom in Canada.