We are now at that season of provincial and federal budgets. For every group and every community it is like waiting for Christmas that the money that we hoped for our organizations would instantly appear and solve all of our financial and staffing worries. The Ontario budget was announced last Thursday and the federal budget was delivered on March 28.
For all governments, the decisions on where to spend money is always difficult. In municipal governments often it comes to the choice of which roads will be repaired, or which facility will be upgraded. For provincial governments, the decision often comes to whether to expand education opportunities, social services, or health services or fund roads, highways, bridges or support manufacturing and job creation.
Nationally, the budget must tackle issues that protect our sovereignty, our national security, the general well being of our citizens and our international commitments.
All three governments struggle in their decisions and from experience, no one group will be totally satisfied and their will be grumbling.
We know that the provinces and federal governments had already agreed on a new health spending model and now wait to see how that will roll out across Ontario. The province in their budget is looking to fund more dollars for training of nurses and the retention of nursing staff as well as opening up 100 additional seats for doctor training across the province and additional funds to accredit foreign trained doctors. It is welcome.
In addition through its capital spending new hospitals and schools will be built.
But arriving post covid, and the war in Ukraine, and dramatic inflation one is left wondering if the steps being taken will enhance our lives.
The federal government faces numerous issues. With the war in Ukraine, law makers are being forced to re-examine Canada’s funding of its armed forces. With its commitment to Canada’s youngest, will the government expand childcare support as inflation has already eaten away the funds promised to the provinces for $10 per day Day-Care support.
Both the Ontario Government and the Federal government will be spending more on manufacturing jobs to create green energy, batteries and EV vehicles in Ontario. The minerals for those batteries will be mined in Northern Ontario and new jobs will be created across Ontario.
Both governments will proclaim that they are putting more money into their budgets, but the reality is that inflation is eating at those numbers and in the end there are actually fewer real dollars are being spent.
Former Publisher
Fort Frances Times
