April 23, 2015
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Hugh Mackenzie – Research associate
Ontario Budget 2015 throws everything but infrastructure under the bus
The budget makes reference to its poverty reduction strategy. But the only concrete measure is social assistance benefits are being increased – by 1%, less than the rate of inflation. The numbers say that social assistance benefits – both Ontario Works and ODSP – are still lower by 5-7%, after accounting for inflation, than they were at the end of the Harris era.
On the way to budget balance, expenditures on children and social services will increase by less than one third of the rate of inflation.