In the Ontario fall economic statement, released November 6, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy stated, “With tariffs taking direct aim at Ontario workers and communities, it has never been more important for the government to deliver on its plan to protect Ontario.”
Timiskaming-Cochrane MPP John Vanthof said he “was vastly underwhelmed” after reading the speech.
“Almost everything in there has already been announced.”
Vanthof sees a number of areas that require more attention.
“Our forestry sector is in really tough shape,” he said in a telephone interview.
“(The province) hasn’t met any of their housing goals, we have construction workers who are losing their jobs, houses that need to be built.”
Highlights from the statement include: rebating the full provincial portion of the HST for first-time home buyers of most new homes; updating personal and corporate income taxes to encourage more business investment; helping small and medium-sized enterprises diversify into new markets; enhance and expand access to the tax credit for corporations which are not Canadian-controlled private corporations; invest to extend home care services; support sectors affected by U.S. tariffs, including steel, aluminum, copper and auto sectors; investments; reduce the budget deficit; and balance the budget by 2027-2028 while protecting workers and jobs.
The economic statement has received mixed reviews.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Vanthof cautions about depending on the private sector to solve the housing crisis.
Developers and builders will only want to build housing that makes them a profit, he said. Deeply affordable housing is not going to make them a profit.
“The government needs to get involved to make sure the private sector can build it, and they just don’t want to go there.”
Vanthof commended the HST holiday for first-time home purchasers, but noted the announcement only takes effect if the federal government takes the lead doing the same thing.
“Housing starts in the province are dropping like a stone,” he said.
The provincial government also referred to investing in extending home care services, which Vanthof said is great as long as the money makes its way into the services, and the task is “single-sourced to one company.”
FORESTRY SECTOR
He said the region is lucky because it has the gold mining sector, which is strong right now. One of the area’s biggest forestry employers is not impacted by tariffs, he added.
However “stick mills are facing big problems because they are facing 50 per cent tariffs,” he pointed out.
Vanthof is calling on the province to admit where its weaknesses are.
He is calling for an increase in the province’s effort to fix the housing issue.
HIGHWAY 11
He also is calling for improvements to the TransCanada highway, which includes Highway 11, and he has pointed out in the legislature the frequency with which the highway is closed even though it is an artery for the flow of goods and services across Canada. The financial statement says nothing about the highway, he said.
“But there is a $9 million study for a tunnel under the 401. I don’t think the premier and most of his ministers actually appreciate how Ontario works,” he commented.
While spending advertising dollars on the Ring of Fire, the province needs a highway system to get to the area, he pointed out.
FONOM HAS POSITIVE VIEW
The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), now led by Dave Plourde, is positive about the fall economic statement, pointing to an increase in the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund and the Ontario Community Infrastructure Program, and investment in transportation, clean water systems, and housing affordability.
In a positive view, FONOM is pointing to “the pilot project to bring ride-sharing services to communities along the Northlander corridor, the commitment to source GO Transit bi-level rail coaches in Thunder Bay, and, as previously mentioned, the investments in road infrastructure such as the Greenstone corridor toward the Ring of Fire.
FONOM also is welcoming increased funding support for municipalities. Plourde mentions in a news release the increased Connecting Links program funding; the rise of the Ontario Community Infrastructure Program (OCIP) minimum to $125,000; and the $50 million increase to the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF), now totalling $600 million.
“The government’s ongoing investment in clean water systems, now totalling $4 billion, including $1.6 billion for upgrades, represents a significant step toward long-term sustainability for many Northern communities,” he added.
