Ted Arnott: What the Liberals don’t want you to know about their budget

Here are five things you need to know about this year’s Provincial Budget that the Liberals neglected to mention in the Budget Speech (and hope you don’t find out).

1. The debt keeps going up.

The provincial debt is projected to be $308 billion, up from $296 billion last year. It was $139 billion when the Liberals took office 12½ years ago. They haven’t paid down a nickel of the provincial debt since taking office.

2. Every person who lives in Ontario is on the hook for $22,103 of the provincial debt.

The “debt per capita” number is up from $21,470 last year. It was $12,270 ten years ago.

3. The budget for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is going to be cut by $27 million, as compared to last year. At the same time, the Government plans to spend $44 million on “Executive Offices,” up from $36.7 million last year.

This means less for farm families and our rural communities, but more for questionable administration.

4. Seniors will have to pay substantially more for their prescriptions.

On August 1st, the deductible for the Ontario Drug Benefit program for seniors goes up from its current level of $100 to $170. Individual prescriptions will go up as well.

5. “Cap and trade” is really a “shell game.”

By raising the taxes on gasoline and natural gas, already cash-strapped Ontarians will be forced to pay more. But the money raised will go into the Liberal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund, from which they pay for all their programs. The increased revenue will NOT be put into a dedicated account to combat climate change.