CAMBRIDGE — With COVID-19 cases rising again in Ontario and kids heading back to school, the Doug Ford government is squirrelling away $2.2 billion — money that should be used to help people and end COVID in Ontario, said NDP Finance critic Catherine Fife.
 
“Since Ford released his budget in March, we’ve had a horrific third wave, and the Delta variant has arrived. Yet, this First Quarter update doesn’t include a dime more for safer schools, health care or local business recovery,” said NDP Finance critic Catherine Fife. “It’s pretty clear: Doug Ford just doesn’t want to spend the money on regular folks and the things we need.
 
“Instead of withholding that money, we should be using it for safer schools for kids this fall, to hire staff to help burnt out health care workers, to bolster public health efforts, and to help local businesses recover.”
 
Ontario’s independent Financial Accountability Officer (FAO) reported that Ford often doesn’t spend “allocated” and contingency funds. By the end of 2020-21, unaudited spending was a whopping $10.3 billion less than planned.