September 23rd, 2022

Conservative government could afford to solve health crisis — they chose not to

Ford government finished 2021-22 with $2.1 billion left over

QUEEN'S PARK — While health care and hospitals spiralled into crisis, the Conservative government was withholding so much money, it ran a $2.1 billion-surplus in 2021-22.

That figure comes from the newly released 2021-22 Public Accounts of Ontario.

“At hospitals, people were waiting hour after hour in pain while health care workers were run off their feet and unable to give comfort to the sick and injured. Doug Ford had the money to help, and he just sat on it.” said NDP Finance critic Catherine Fife.

“While crowding in our kids’ classrooms was getting worse, and families were begging for more mental health supports, Ford was raking in dough, and sitting on it. While workers had their wages frozen behind inflation and were making tough choices, Ford was watching government coffers grow. This surplus is a shocking reminder that the Conservatives just don’t think it’s their job to help people.”

According to the Public Accounts, the government underspent their Social Services budget by $800 million, despite budgeting too little in the first place. Despite the hospitals crisis, the massive surgical backlog and the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Ford held the line on in-year health spending to a paltry one per cent. And in Education, the government cut $400 million from their planned spending.

“Every time Doug Ford refuses to spend money on services families count on, it’s real families like ours that pay the price. Conservative choices are costing us all too much,” said Fife.