Cuts need to double for Ford government to keep balanced budget promise, financial watchdog says
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

Premier Doug Ford will have to find “significant” savings — about $6 billion — in the last two years of his term to balance the budget if he plans to offer personal income tax cuts promised in his election campaign, says Ontario’s independent financial watchdog. This next round of spending cuts would have to be roughly double what the Progressive Conservatives have already announced in Finance Minister Vic Fedeli’s spring budget, the Financial Accountability Office said Wednesday in its latest report.“This implies that significant future policy decisions will likely be needed,” Peter Weltman warned in the 36-page document.“The FAO estimates that additional cost savings of almost $6 billion would be needed to achieve the 2019 budget’s spending plan” by the last year of Ford’s mandate.The next election is slated for 2022.Ford’s government is already under fire for cuts made to public health units, municipalities, stem cell and artificial intelligence research, tree planting and flood prevention. Read more:Anti-poverty advocates shaken by cuts contemplated by Ford governmentTory tells Ford city will look for savings, if province cancels this year’s budget cutsOpinion | Martin Regg Cohn: Secret document shows how far Doug Ford’s Tories would cut social services — until they were talked back from the brinkThe premier has said the government must find “efficiencies” to put provincial finances on a sustainable footing. But without the middle-class income tax reductions Ford touted in the weeks leading to his election victory last June, the government is on track to post a budget surplus of $6.4 billion by March 31, 2024, the Financial Accountability Office said.Ford acknowledged during his campaign the tax cuts would likely have to wait a couple of years until the government was on a better path to balancing the budget. Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter co ...