Editorial: Pre-election budget misses the mark

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party released its pre-election budget April 28. As the Legislature dissolved the following week, the budget essentially serves as a campaign platform leading up to the June 2 provincial election. 

The $198.6 billion, 268-page budget didn’t have many surprises. Titled “Ontario’s Plan to Build,” it outlines major commitments previously announced, but with a bigger spend on large infrastructure projects. 

The ‘big build’ the party has in mind, and that it says will grow the province’s economy and employment numbers, involves spending on infrastructure that really only helps those living and working in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The plan calls for $25.1 billion over 10 years on new highway construction and expansions to ease congestion (with some of the proposed roads going through the Greenbelt and agricultural lands) and $61.6 billion over 10 years for public transit, including a new subway transit plan for the GTA and transforming the GO Transit network into a modern, reliable and fully integrated rapid transit network.

Part of the plan is expanding mining development in the north to supply minerals needed for the batteries to power electric vehicles. Expanding EV production as well as trying to re-invigorate the auto manufacturing sector are key to the party’s election campaign. 

While hospitals, schools and long-term care homes will see a funding boost, there was little mention of what the province plans to do for the agriculture sector. 

The few agricultural items mentioned in the budget deal with enhancing and maintaining worker safety and supporting food processing labour shortages. 

These aren’t really ‘new’ investments, and they are tiny in comparison to the infrastructure projects. For example, the plan will provide $10 million in 2022–23 for ongoing support and expansion of the Enhanced Agri-Food Workplace Protection Program,
a plan that had already been announced. Another $10 million is earmarked in 2022–23 to establish a Food Security and Supply Chain Fund, which the plan says will “strengthen Ontario’s food supply, including addressing barriers to recruitment by attracting and retaining domestic workers, closing sector skill gaps, and supporting the well-being of workers.” 

To its credit, the Ontario government has acknowledged the lack of food processing capacity and labour, and recently announced a fund of $25 million to help address this. The budget maintains the financial support for Phase 2 of the Natural Gas Expansion plan and says it will begin consulting this fall on “how to best deliver Phase 3 of the program”, so there is hope that more rural communities will have access to natural gas in the coming years. 

But providing only $5 million in the plan in 2022–23 for emergency support initiatives to help livestock producers if emergency processing disruptions occur, without mention of any other business risk program funding for other agriculture sectors, shows the plan falls short and is obviously not in step with a sector that contributes $39.5 billion to the province’s GDP. 

When the budget was released, farmers were facing the greatest amount of uncertainty seen in decades, with geopolitical factors putting inputs in short supply and increasing costs almost daily. 

The need for better financial supports was highlighted by both the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) and the Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) in their pre-election consultation submissions. 

The GFO said “grain farmers need to know the government has their back. Financial supports need to be explored as there is nothing within the current Business Risk Management suite that will provide the support that farmers may need if worst case scenarios are realized on prices for fertilizer and fuel.”

The BFO asked the government to raise the program cap from $150 million to $250 million annually in the Ontario Risk Management Program “to ensure our farms have the tools to manage today’s food production risks.”

The PC party says the budget will hold if they are elected. 

Where does agriculture fit into the ‘big build’? 

Appeasing voters in the GTA by reducing their commute time is all well and good but it is illogical if that expansion comes at the cost of farmland and the province’s ability to produce its own food. 

Agriculture can play a key role in the economic expansion and recovery of the province, but foresight and financial stability are needed to make that happen. 

Rural areas need roads and infrastructure, too – and farmers need assurance that they can make a living.