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- From: jstewart@bertrand.carleton.ca (John Stewart)
- Subject: Re: Deficit, Deficit, who's got the Deficit? was: NDP "communism?"
- Message-ID: <jstewart.727896363@cunews>
- Sender: news@cunews.carleton.ca (News Administrator)
- Organization: Carleton University
- References: <93024.0053342893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> <1993Jan24.160009.16676@csi.uottawa.ca> <jstewart.727892428@cunews> <1993Jan24.170732.25135@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca>
- Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 17:26:03 GMT
- Lines: 39
-
- In <1993Jan24.170732.25135@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca> golchowy@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Gerald Olchowy) writes:
-
- >Ontario is still a have-province compared to anyone else but Alberta
- >and BC. From the onset of the Peterson-Rae coalition in the
- >mid-eighties, spending in Ontario has been increasing at 10-15% per
- >year, and really has not slowed...all the fat added in the good times
- >just needs to be cut...Ontario is to blame for its own problem because
- >it didn't restrain spending and taxation in the good times (the other
- >half of the Keynesian cycle), so there was room for deficit spending
- >and stimulus during the bad times.
-
- Ontario was certainly not the only province that accumulated a lot of
- debt in the 80's. The NDP have made tough cuts to hospitals and
- universities (which were already receiving the lowest funding per
- student of any province). The deficit is not due to fat, but is mainly
- caused by
- 1) A shortfall on the revenue side (in spite of significant tax
- increases) due to the recession.
- 2) A large increase in the bill for social services due to the
- increase in the number of people on welfare (now over 1 million).
- The Federal government has not done anything to help foot this bill
- whereas in other provinces they will provide make work programs
- to keep people eligible for UIC (saves the province money since
- welfare is a provincial responsibility whereas UIC is paid for by
- the Federal government)
- or special assistance (eg. billions
- of dollars for fisherman in Newfoundland until the fish stocks recover).
-
- I doubt that Ontario's deficit would be very much different if we had
- elected a Liberal or Conservative government. Ontario has been blindsided by
- the recession and the Federal government.
- --
- John Stewart -- Computing and Communications Services, Carleton University
- Internet: jstewart@ccs.carleton.ca or Mr.Canoehead@algonquin.carleton.ca
- "The average middle income family with two parents and children pays $2,945
- more in Federal taxes than they would have under the tax policies in place
- before the Tories first came to power in 1984."
-