Liberals hiding deficit, second watchdog says
The financial credibility of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government has taken another huge hit with a second independent, non-partisan financial watchdog of the Ontario Legislature saying Liberal claims they’ve balanced the budget are inaccurate.
The legislature’s Financial Accountability Office Monday supported an earlier finding by auditor general Bonnie Lysyk that the Liberals are using accounting tricks to hide their deficits from the public.
Contrary to claims by Wynne and Finance Minister Charles Sousa in his April 28 budget speech projecting balanced Ontario budgets for 2017, 2018 and 2019, the FAO reported the Liberals are running a deficit this year and predicted they will continue to do so under their current fiscal policies.
The FAO projects the provincial deficit at $4 billion this year, $7.1 billion in 2018, $7.8 billion in 2019, $9 billion in 2020 and $9.8 billion in 2021.
It says these projections are based on weaker revenue growth and the Wynne government’s rejection of “the Auditor General of Ontario’s recommended accounting treatment for both the government’s Fair Hydro Plan and the net pension assets of jointly-sponsored pension plans.”
Defying the auditor general, the Wynne government hired what it described as an expert panel, which endorsed its pension accounting.
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