Commission concludes that, despite promises to the contrary, previous government left Ontario with a $15 billion deficit
TORONTO – Today, Ontario Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli and President of the Treasury Board Peter Bethlenfalvy released the 2017-2018 Public Accounts along with the full report of Ontario’s Independent Financial Commission of Inquiry. With the findings of the Commission accounted for, the Public Accounts show that, contrary to the previous government’s claims of a balanced budget, Ontario actually ran a $3.7 billion deficit in 2017-18.
Additionally, the Commission confirmed earlier findings from Ontario’s Auditor General that the previous government’s budget numbers were “not a reasonable presentation of Ontario’s finances.”
The report states that the previous government left Ontario with a $15 billion deficit.
“Only when the Government of Ontario truly accounts for its real deficit position can we begin to put the province back on a path to balanced fiscal sustainability,” said Fedeli. “This is why we are so quick to accept the Commission of Inquiry’s recommendations and work, in good faith, with the Auditor General on solutions.”
The ministers confirmed Ontario’s Auditor General has provided a clean opinion on the 2017-2018 Public Accounts, the first time in three years she has been able to do so.
“Collectively, the Independent Financial Commission of Inquiry, the release of the 2017-18 Public Accounts, and the line-by-line review leave no stone unturned,” said Bethlenfalvy. “We are getting to the bottom of the previous government’s record of waste and mismanagement.The work ahead will be difficult, but the proper management of public finances is a moral imperative that can no longer be ignored.”
