Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has unveiled the budget that will take the Liberals into the October provincial election.
Here are the highlights:
- no new tax increases, decreases or tax credits for taxpayers or businesses.
- program spending in 2010-11 was 2.6 billion dollars lower than forecast at 13.3 billion dollars; spending projected at 13.8 billion for fiscal 2011.
- belt-tightening measures aimed at 1.5 billion dollars in savings over three years; includes major agencies cutting 200 million by 2013-14 and trimming 15-hundred civil service jobs starting next year.
- scraps plan to build new Toronto courthouse; closes underutilized prisons in Owen Sound, Walkerton and Sarnia.
- deficit projected to fall to 16.3 billion dollars in 2011-12, down 400-million from previous year; balanced budget not forecast until 2017-2018.
- creation of 60-thousand new university and college spaces by 2015-16.
- 15 million dollars over three years to expand breast cancer screening programs to cover an additional 90-thousand women at high risk.
- risk management program to help grain and oilseed farmers deal with volatile commodity markets made permanent; new programs for livestock and fruit and vegetable farmers.
- 12.8 billion dollars in 2011-12 for infrastructure spending on roads, bridges, sewers and other projects.
- 50 million dollars over 10 years for the Perimeter Institute, the Waterloo think tank that has attracted Stephen Hawking as a research chair.
- economy forecast to grow by 2.4 per cent this year and 2.7 per cent next year.
