Larry O’Brien

With the tabling of today’s provincial budget we continue to see the lingering effects of the global economic downturn and the pressure that provincial government spending has placed on Ontario taxpayers.

The record deficit has limited the province’s options for support to municipalities in this year’s budget, and I am concerned that the province’s future plan to reduce the deficit could come at the expense of needed funds for important municipal projects such as social housing, transit and public health.

I am pleased that the province has recognized the important role that cities play in the delivery of childcare. The addition of $63.5 million a year to be shared between all Ontario municipalities will allow us to protect childcare spaces.

I am also pleased that the province has recognized the problematic effects of high corporate tax rates on job creation and innovation and I applaud their intention to continue to reduce the corporate tax rate.

I am disappointed that the government did not use this budget to adopt a broad public sector wage freeze. Ontario’s municipalities, school boards and hospitals are dealing with wage increases well above the rate of inflation, and this measure would have allowed the City of Ottawa to reduce pressure on taxpayers while closing the gap between public and private sector salaries.

Lastly, I am concerned with the proposal to slow the pace of planning and construction of some of the province’s capital projects once stimulus funding has ended. We have recently seen the benefits of increased partnership between all three levels of government in repairing our aging infrastructure and building new projects like the Ottawa Congress Centre. Any delay in future capital investments could have the negative effect of restoring the infrastructure gap.

I look forward to discussing measures in this budget that will directly impact the City of Ottawa with our provincial partners.