The Canadian Press
Shawn Jeffords
TORONTO–Days after his government delivered its first major fiscal update, Premier Doug Ford said his government “may” balance the province’s budget in the final year of its mandate.
Ford made the comments during a “fireside chat” with Toronto Sun editor-in-chief Adrienne Batra at the Ontario Progressive Conservative policy convention in Toronto on Saturday.
Asked how he would eliminate a deficit his government now says is $14.5 billion, Ford stressed it will take some time.
“We’re not going to go in there and start slashing and burning,” he said. “We’re going to do it responsibly.
“We will balance,” he vowed. “It may be in year four but we’re going to balance.”
Ford, who did not take any other questions from media during the wide-ranging discussion, returned repeatedly to the topic of the deficit, including when Batra asked what his biggest surprise was upon becoming premier.
His government has said the shortfall they inherited from the Liberals was $15 billion. Critics have disputed the number, saying it’s inflated by cancelled spending planned by the previous government.
Earlier in the week, Finance minister Vic Fedeli painted a bleak picture of the province’s fiscal situation during his first fiscal update.
That document–which announced plans to eliminate three independent legislative watchdogs, end subsidies to political parties, and halt the development of a French-language university–did not outline how or when the government would return to balance.
This weekend’s convention was the first for Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives since the party swept to power in the province’s spring election on June 7.
But the celebration comes at a time when the new government is weathering a series of political storms, including the resignation of a senior minister over allegations of sexual misconduct, a cabinet shuffle, and the release of former party leader Patrick Brown’s tell-all book.
Earlier Saturday, federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer called on the Ontario Tories to help him defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals next fall.
In a keynote address, Scheer stressed that while the provincial Progressive Conservatives had defeated the Ontario Liberals, their work to return the federal Tories to power in next year’s federal election still is to come.
Scheer hammered Trudeau for a ballooning federal deficit and stressed “fiscal sanity” needs to be returned to Ottawa.
“Never has a government spent so much to achieve so little,” he charged.
“Justin Trudeau’s never had to worry about money so it’s no wonder that he doesn’t worry about yours.”
The prime minister’s office said Scheer’s Conservatives have been “fixated” on Trudeau for years.
“We’ve always been focused on Canadians and we’re going to stay focused on Canadians,” PMO spokesman Cameron Ahmad said in a statement.
