Tag: News

Conservatives Hold Marathon Vote in the House of Commons

Here’s some background.

After the defeat of the Conservative motion, the opposition tabled 260 motions opposing pieces of legislation that were scheduled to be voted on Thursday evening.

Those motions, known as “opposed votes,” state that there is no support for 260 different lines from the supplementary and interim estimates of the government, and need to be voted on before the actual vote can take place on the legislation itself.

Supplementary and interim estimates are routine bills that are tabled several times each year and act essentially as bridges between the money laid out in federal budgets and the adjusted amounts that reflect what departments actually use or need.

Because the estimates deal with money, they are considered votes of confidence.

And as is the case with any vote on a matter of confidence, defeat on any of the 260 motions opposing different lines of the estimates could trigger an election.

Ontario will Plunge Back Into Deficit

TORONTO – The Ontario government’s budget will not be balanced when it is delivered on March 28, the finance minister said Wednesday, reversing a key Liberal promise as the province prepares for a spring election.

Charles Sousa said the province will run a deficit of less than one percent of its gross domestic product starting next year, a move he said was meant to boost growth and allow more investment in key areas such as healthcare and childcare.

 

From The Statement

Another broken promise was delivered by the Wynne Liberals early this afternoon, plunging the province back into a deficit. In the Liberal line-up of broken promises, an unbalanced budget is the latest addition to their record of mismanagement and waste.

How can families trust a government when they say one thing and then do the complete opposite?

It seems the only promise the Wynne Liberals can keep, is that they will continue to look out for their own political interests and their insider friends. For 15 years, they’ve put their interests first, all to the detriment of hard-working Ontario families.

Here’s what Finance Minister Charles Sousa said just months ago:

“We have outperformed and as a result, we’re coming to balance next year and the year after that.”

“I will confirm that we will balance the budget. In fact, last year we beat our targets by just over $3 billion. And I will confirm that we are on track to deliver balanced budgets for the next two years as well.”

“The government is projecting balanced budgets in 2017–18 through to 2019–20.”

“We’re looking at a balanced budget in this coming budget… next year as well, and the year after that…”

“[Mr. Sousa vowed] … that the province’s books will remain balanced until the end of the decade.”