{"id":3105,"date":"2020-11-15T13:08:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-15T18:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tobybarrett.com\/?p=3105"},"modified":"2020-11-19T09:13:58","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T14:13:58","slug":"a-budget-for-health-jobs-and-economic-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tobybarrett.com\/a-budget-for-health-jobs-and-economic-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"A budget for health, jobs and economic recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By MPP Toby Barrett <\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the heels of a world health crisis, Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips tabled a budget to protect people\u2019s health; support their jobs and the economy; while setting the stage for recovery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Total spending is projected to be $187 billion running a deficit of $38.5 billion and paying out $12.5 billion to service a debt of $343 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ontario\u2019s Covid-19 health response is now a projected $15.2 billion. The government is making available $4 billion in 2020-2021 and a further $2 billion in 2022-2023 to ensure the province can remain responsive in the fight against this pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It also includes additional funding to support hospital beds, address the surgical backlog and purchase additional influenza vaccines. The government is also investing an additional $572 million in Ontario\u2019s hospitals to support additional costs of Covid-19, including testing, assessment centres, laboratory and medical equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE). <\/p>\n\n\n\n To protect long-term care residents from a second wave of Covid-19, and address long-standing issues in the system, Ontario is providing over half a billion dollars to enable necessary renovations and measures to improve infection prevention and control, allow for the purchase of more PPE, and to build a strong health care workforce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The province plans to increase the average daily direct care of long-term care residents from a nurse or personal support worker (PSW), to four hours a day. This additional care will be phased in over four years and will make Ontario the leader among Canadian provinces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To offset some additional Covid-19 costs, parents will once again receive $200 per child under the age of 12 and $250 for children and youth with special needs age 21 and under. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ontario government is taking significant steps to protect seniors and allow them to stay in their homes longer. The province is proposing a new Seniors\u2019 Home Safety Tax Credit for the 2021 taxation year, which would provide a 25 per cent credit on eligible renovations of up to $10,000. Seniors would be eligible regardless of their incomes and whether they owe income tax for 2021. Family members who have a senior living with them would also be eligible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ontario is going further to make available additional support for the employers most affected by Covid-19. Measures include allowing local municipalities to cut property taxes, ending the Employer Health Tax exemption increase and addressing the price of electricity with cuts of 14 per cent for medium-sized businesses and 16 per cent for larger industrial and commercial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The cost of hydro is an important measure not only for existing businesses but also attracting new ones. It\u2019s clear the province\u2019s high commercial and industrial electricity prices are a barrier to investment that causes some to go elsewhere. The budget outlines a plan to reduce the costs of Ontario\u2019s high-cost contracts with non-hydro renewable energy producers, which will be wound down once and for all. Starting on Jan. 1, 2021, a portion of the cost of these contracts, entered under the previous government, will be funded by the province, not ratepayers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As taxpayers understand, the current levels of government spending are neither sustainable nor desirable over the long run. But, as the global pandemic continues around the world, they remain necessary today.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n When the pandemic is over, this budget will help position Ontario for recovery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Toby Barrett is the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By MPP Toby Barrett On the heels of a world health crisis, Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips tabled a budget to protect people\u2019s health; support their jobs and the economy; while setting the stage for recovery. Total spending is projected to be $187 billion running a deficit of $38.5 billion and paying out $12.5 billion to service a … Continue reading “A budget for health, jobs and economic recovery”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n