Minister Duncan had projected a deficit of around $3.9 billion, but the number came in $2.5 billion higher by the time the books closed on March 31st 2009. The total provincial debt now stands in the neighbourhood of $113 billion. I agree these are all very big numbers.
Projections for the 2009-2010 fiscal year are also out of whack. Earlier this year in his budget statement the minister told Ontarians to expect a $14.1 billion deficit. After the first quarter the minister changed his projections. The following is a statement from the ministry website:
- In the 2009 Ontario Budget, the government projected a $14.1 billion deficit for 2009–10. Since then, a weaker-than-expected economy and further steps to support the automotive industry have increased the deficit projection to $18.5 billion in 2009–10.
- This $4.4 billion increase to the deficit for 2009–10 is primarily due to an approximately $2.8 billion deterioration in the Province’s revenue outlook as a result of a weaker economy, combined with an increase in total expense of $1.5 billion to support the automotive sector and $0.1 billion in higher interest on debt expense.
The financial update regarding the 2008-09 deficit, like the TD Bank report on the impact to consumers of the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), was conveniently made public after the St Paul's provincial by-election. I know some political adviser or advisers must have thought delaying this information was a stroke of genius. However, in reality, the Liberals would have won the by-election anyway and the political manipulation of this public information needlessly harms their reputation.
