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Dec 25,2005 - Jan 8,2005 |
Sorbara: Part of the federalism is broken
The minister of Finance of Ontario: "We want a new fiscal deal with Ottawa"
By Angelo Persichilli
Originally Published: 2005-02-20
TORONTO - This week Queen's Park is back in business, and the Ontario government of Dalton McGuinty seems to be more concerned with bringing about a change in the policies of the federal government than with the official opposition. In an interview with Tandem, Ontario Minister of Finance Greg Sorbara, says, "It simply doesn't make sense for Ontario to be confronting a budget deficit when, at the same time, the federal government has a large surplus."
The provincial government, squeezed between a harrowing deficit it cannot seem to reign in and a list of electoral promises hounding it since the fall of 2003, is looking to Ottawa for help. Queen's Park knows that the federal government has the money, and the Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia agreement on offshore resources makes the Ontario government hope that if you scream loudly enough, you will get some money.
Sorbara is waiting for the federal budget at the end of the month in order to prepare his own budget, which will most likely be brought down at the end of next month.
Mr. Sorbara, what can we expect from your government during this session?
"You can expect our party to be in a pretty upbeat mood, We have work to do, including having the greenbelt legislation passed and making new progress on the "places to grow" bill, identifying where we should be planning future developments."
Any big changes compared to the first part of your mandate?
"As we approach the budget, we will be talking quite a bit more about the fiscal imbalance in Canada right now. We are trying to make it clear that one level of government, the federal government, has a significant budget surplus and that, at the same time, Ontario is under enormous pressure to provide improved service in terms of post secondary education and to meet demands for better transportation in the Greater Toronto Area. There is also a joint commitment to do more regarding very important things such as child care. We have to bring to the attention of the public that this country is not balanced the way it should be in terms of the power to raise money and the power to spend money."
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