TOareaFan
Superstar
Afraid not. Ontario has both the lowest revenues and expenditures per capita out of all Canadian provinces.
Boosting our revenue per capita to the same levels as BC (so we're tied for lowest) would take about $3B off the deficit. If we targeted the average for Canada we would have a balanced budget today.
Being efficient is good, and I don't doubt we can make improvements here. Dumping raw sewage into the Ottawa river because we're not willing to find $35M isn't helping anybody. I'm not sure why it is difficult to both be efficient in our spending AND continue to spend on improving our surroundings. It seems to be all or nothing.
I think when people hear that Ontario's revenue per capita is low assume that it means our tax rates are low (ie. that taxes and revenue are synonymous). I am not sure that is always the case.
Comparing the marginal tax rates of, say, Ontario and BC for example:
Ontario 5.05% on the first $40,120 of taxable income, +
9.15% on the next $40,122, +
11.16% on the next $433,848, +
13.16 % on the amount over $514,090
BC 5.06% on the first $37,606 of taxable income, +
7.7% on the next $37,607, +
10.5% on the next $11,141, +
12.29% on the next $18,504, +
14.7% on the next $45,142, +
16.8% on the amount over $150,000
For the bulk of the population (people earning under $80k) Ontario actually has higher rates of taxation. Clearly the provinces differ on how they tax above that and that was somewhat addressed by he budget that proposes:
Ontario 5.05% on the first $40,120 of taxable income, +
9.15% on the next $40,122, +
11.16% on the next $109,878 +
12.16% on the next $70,000 +
13.16 % on the amount over $220,000
So even with that increase in taxation, Ontario would not have enough revenue to get with $12B of balance...so while it is true Ontario has lower revenue per capita it looks to me that the revenue shortfalls might be in other areas (resource income per capita is much higher in provinces like BC, Saskatchewan and Alberta....and maybe others).
It is not clear how you "boost" revenue per capita to the national average.