Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne applauds Finance Minister Charles Sousa after delivering the government's Fall Economic Statement at Queen’s Park on Nov. 7, 2013.MOE DOIRON/The Globe and Mail
Ontario is looking to tie education taxes to the rate of inflation and sell off valuable pieces of land as the cash-strapped province searches for money, Finance Minister Charles Sousa's fall economic statement announced on Thursday.
The portion of property tax bills that covers education has increased below the rate of inflation for more than a decade. The province in considering freezing education taxes and then increasing them to keep pace with inflation in future years.
Mr. Sousa said the government is willing to miss some medium term deficit-reduction targets to keep programs. "Achieving a zero deficit is not a victory if you have zero growth and zero jobs," he said.
The government will sell the headquarters of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario in Toronto and consider doing the same with the Ontario Power Generation Building to raise cash for infrastructure.
Adrian Morrow