November 15, 2022
Last week I forwarded to you the analysis of the Government of Canada’s Fall Economic Statement from one of my clients, Sussex Strategy Group.
I am pleased to provide with another analysis by Sussex this week, which looks at the Fall Economic Statement delivered by the Government of Ontario yesterday.
Sussex is an experienced and highly respected government relations firm that offers strategic and consulting services. I find their reports informative and insightful, and I hope you will also.
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2022 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review
This afternoon, Ontario’s Finance Minister, Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy, delivered the first fiscal report of the Ford Government’s second mandate. Billed by the government as the first-ever progress report on its plan to build Ontario, the Fall Economic Statement (FES) made clear the government will keep pursuing the economic agenda it laid out in the March 2022 Budget and on which it was re-elected in June 2022.
True to the report’s title, Ontario’s Plan to Build: A Progress Update, today’s FES spends nearly as much time highlighting the progress made-to-date on the 2022 Budget’s priorities as it does laying out new programs and initiatives.
The FES is a legal obligation, providing an update on the annual Budget about halfway through the fiscal year. In recent years, these updates have often served as “mini-budgets,” introducing new programs, tax breaks, or other policies to address changed economic conditions, fiscal situation or (in truth) political circumstances. Arguably, economic conditions have changed since the 2022 Budget was unveiled in March. Yet, as the first fiscal review from a newly re-elected government, the continuity signaled by today’s FES should not come as a surprise. Had the Ford government moved too radically from its platform this soon after re-election, it could have raised a red flag to investors, financial markets, and others that the economic headwinds Ontario is facing are much stronger than people are forecasting.
Below, we have broken down the numbers that were delivered today, along with a summary of the key progress reports and significant new initiatives.
Click »» here to read the full Analysis from Sussex Strategy Group