Ontario has balanced its budget earlier than expected, but that doesn't mean the unpopular health tax introduced by the Liberals will be cancelled, says Finance Minister Greg Sorbara.
Ontario's finalized 2005-06 public accounts, released yesterday by Mr. Sorbara, shows the province ended the year with a surprising $298-million surplus, enabling the McGuinty Liberals to beat their stated goal of eliminating deficits by 2008-09 at the latest.
The surplus contrasts sharply with what the Liberals projected on two earlier occasions. Last year's original budget forecast a $2.8-billion deficit, and their most recent budget, delivered in March, was still predicting red ink of about $2.4-billion for 2005-06.
However, Mr. Sorbara refused to say yesterday whether the $1.4-billion shortfall he has forecast for this year will also turn into a surplus.
"The appropriate time to review financial projections is in the fall economic statement and that's when we'll be providing our next update on Ontario's finances," he said.
The surplus news led NDP MPP Rosario Marchese to accuse the Liberals of playing games with provincial finances so they end up with a huge amount of additional revenue to spend in the run-up to the next provincial election, set for October, 2007. Source.
