Budget talks

The provincial government’s 2011 budget was more about recommitment for Northern Ontario than making new announcements an area MPP says.

The budget, with $113.8 billion in spending projected for 2011, was announced Tuesday afternoon. Mining minister Michael Gravelle (Lib., Thunder Bay-Superior North) said the budget shows the provinces continued commitment to projects such as the ring of fire and four-laning from Thunder Bay to Nipigon.

"It was by no means a slam dunk. Minister Duncan has some real challenges in terms of dealing with the fiscal reality," said Gravelle.

But Gravelle said he is excited to see another $10 million in the budget for the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, which brings the total spending for NOHFC up to $100 million per year. MPP Bill Mauro (Lib., Thunder Bay-Atikokan) agreed.

"This is a significant piece for Northern Ontario because you’ve seen the tremendous announcements that come out of that fund," said Mauro.

And while opposition parties were quick to criticize the Liberals for a lack of Northern Ontario specific announcements in the budget, Mauro said no region was specifically mentioned in Tuesday’s budget.

"That’s not what this budget spoke to," Mauro said. "It spoke to higher level messaging…we weren’t left out."

Gravelle said Thunder Bay will certainly see benefits of a commitment in the budget to create 60,000 new spaces for post-secondary schools in the province by 2016 although Mauro admits with such a recent announcement it’s not clear how many new seats will open up at Lakehead University and Confederation College.

"It’s definitely too soon but clearly if the capacity is required, Michael (Gravelle) and I will ensure that we receive part of that 60,000," Mauro said.

No new tax increases or decreases were announced for taxpayers or businesses were announced although a $1.5 billion savings plan over the next three years was announced in order to tackle the now $16.3 billion, which is down $400 million from the previous year.

Part of that plan is a complete review of services in Ontario and cutting 1,500 civil service jobs. Gravelle said while it’s no question government service jobs play a vital role in Northwestern Ontario, a budget is all about balancing.

"They (cuts) will be done in a balanced way…done fairly," Gravelle said.

Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce board chair Justin Frape said he didn’t see anything unexpected in the budget and wasn’t as aggressive as he would’ve liked overall. Although Frape said there were some good points, targets set for deficit reduction are underwhelming.