The local members of provincial parliament (MPPs) feel the third-quarter fiscal update was missing details.

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said Monday that the projected budget deficit for 2021-2022 is $13.1 billion, an $8.4 billion difference from the deficit forecasted in the Economic Statement released in November 2021.

Judith Monteith-Farrell (NDP, Thunder Bay-Atikokan) pointed to the province sitting on $135 million that wasn’t spent on high-speed internet access for rural and northern families.

“We’re not addressing some of the issues,” Monteith-Farrell told Acadia News. “We have lots of investment in highways and infrastructure but we don’t see those dollars coming to Northern Ontario.”

The Minister stressed that most of the $2.7 billion in COVID-19 relief funding referenced in the November update has been invested with another $500 million remaining for the rest of the fiscal year.

“There was no reference to the funds in the education or environment sector,” said Michael Gravelle (Liberal, Thunder Bay-Superior North). “We want to see a lot more detail in the future and clearly we’re going to have to wait until the budget to see that.”

The full budget is expected to be tabled by March 31st ahead of the next provincial election in June.

PHASED REOPENING

Ontario also unveiled Monday that gathering limitations will be increased as of February 17th with the goal to drop all indoor limits and the vaccine passport system on March 1st.

Farrell feels the system gave her constituents a sense of safety.

“Many people said to me, ‘I like that I know I can go into a restaurant or a bar and know that everyone there is double vaccinated. I believe it’ll backfire (against the government) as it puts the onus on the businesses again because they are the ones that are going to wonder if they should or should not do something.”

Gravelle feels the move isn’t a bad thing, adding “We have certainly heard from a lot of people who are looking to see this happen and hopefully we will be able to move forward (with re-opening) but it will all depend on how things unfold in the next couple of weeks.”

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore reported that 92 per cent of Ontarians 12 and over have received at least two doses and 6.7 million now have their third doses.