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Ontario press release

More Than 110 Federal Cuts - Ontarians Give Ottawa a Failing Grade

Ontario Calls on Federal Government For Fairness

February 12, 2014

Office of the Premier

Premier Kathleen Wynne called on the federal government to stop taking unilateral actions that hurt the people of Ontario.

In its budget yesterday, the federal government cut $641 million in transfers that help support programs the people of Ontario rely on. This cut is in addition to the more than 110 actions the federal government has taken since 2006 that have hurt people and businesses across Ontario.

In recent years, the federal government has eliminated funding for programs in health care, environmental protection, community safety, and skills development and training that Ontarians rely upon to create jobs and grow the economy. Ontario has stepped in to fill in the gaps to protect the high-quality programs and services the people of Ontario deserve. For example, the province is moving ahead on its own made-in-Ontario pension plan because the federal government unilaterally ended discussions towards any agreement on enhancing the Canada Pension Plan.

The province has been calling on the federal government to be fair to Ontario, and work collaboratively on key priorities including:

• Enhancing the CPP so Ontarians can retire with dignity and security;
• Supporting development in the Ring of Fire to help create jobs and strengthen the economy;
• Providing predictable long-term transit and affordable housing funding so Ontario can build modern transit systems and support the province's most vulnerable people.

Protecting critical programs and services is part of the Ontario government's plan to invest in people, build modern infrastructure and support a dynamic and innovative business climate.

Quick Facts

• Cuts by the federal government since 2006 have cost Ontario billions of dollars, and will continue to cost the province billions going forward.
• In previous years, the federal government protected other provinces against declines in transfer payments. For the first time this year, the federal government has refused to provide funding when Ontario is hit.
• In 2013-14, Ontario plans to spend about $13 billion on infrastructure investments in the province.

Quotes

The new budget is yet another example of the federal government making arbitrary decisions that hurt Ontarians. We want to protect the world-class public services the people of Ontario expect and deserve, but we need the federal government to live up to its responsibilities."

Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario

The federal government is shortchanging the people of Ontario and is penalizing us for being the leanest government in Canada. We had hoped that the federal government would have treated Ontarians more fairly and partnered with us to grow our economy and create jobs."

Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance