Ontario Liberals to present budget ahead of the spring election
Posted March 28, 2018 5:40 am.
Last Updated March 28, 2018 11:47 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario’s Liberal government will present its final budget Wednesday before voters head to the polls in early June.
The 2018 budget caps off days of policy announcements that have seen the party pledge billions of dollars for health care and promise free child care for preschoolers.
The government has said the 2018 budget will run a deficit of one per cent of the gross domestic product — potentially as high as $8 billion — reneging on a key promise to balance the books for another year.
Their recent spending promises have been panned by the opposition as political moves meant to curry favour with voters.
But the Liberals, who continue to lag in the polls, have said the added spending is necessary to help struggling Ontario residents, adding the fiscal blueprint would include a clear path to balance.
The latest promise, delivered Tuesday, was a $2.2-billion program beginning in 2020 to fund the cost of full-day, licensed child care after children turn two-and-a-half.
The Ontario election will be held on June 7.
CityNews reporter Cynthia Mulligan spoke to Breakfast Television’s Kevin Frankish about what is expected from the provincial budget prior to entering lockup Wednesday morning. Watch below.
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