More false claims from Patrick Brown today

Patrick Brown claimed: “infrastructure funds, supposed to go to infrastructure is being used as one time budget money”

Fact: Here is a picture of off all the projects in Ontario that have been or are currently being built with infrastructure funds from the government  

(Source: https://www.ontario.ca/locations/building-ontario/)

Patrick Brown claimed: “the government’s going to get 1.9 billion dollars a year as revenue [to fight climate change]…it’s a shell game”

Fact: Wrong. Putting a cap on the pollution businesses can release into the atmosphere guarantees emission reductions at the cheapest price possible for people and the economy. It’s the best approach forward for Ontario. Every dollar generated will be deposited in a dedicated account and reinvested into green projects like transit, electric vehicle incentives and housing retrofits that fight climate change. This means every dollar goes back into helping families and businesses successfully make the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Patrick Brown’s own carbon tax scheme would cost families and businesses four times more without guaranteeing any reductions. And it doesn’t include the investments necessary to reduce costs for families and businesses.

(Source: https://www.enviroeconomics.org/single-post/2016/05/17/Impact-Modelling-and-Analysis-of-Ontario%E2%80%99s-Proposed-Cap-and-Trade-Program

Patrick Brown claimed: “The reality is that there was no new money [for tuition]”

Fact: The changes announced in Budget 2016 for the new OSAP involved combining existing assistance programs into a single, upfront grant that is more generous for low- and middle-income students, and simpler and more effective for all students – exactly the kind of smart policy that allowed our government to balance the budget while helping people in their everyday lives. Budget 2017 makes new investments, totaling over $40 million this year, for further improvements to student assistance in Ontario. This increase includes new OSAP funding for RESP exemptions, better support for Indigenous learners and changing the provincial loan repayment threshold to help young people manage their student debt.

(Source: http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2017/budget2017.pdf)

Patrick Brown claimed: “And I think a real concern of young Ontarians right now is they want to actually have a job. And the real worry is we have this massive skills mismatch.”

Fact: Our budget included funding to launch the new Career Kick-Start Strategy, which is expected to create 40,000 new work-related opportunities for students and recent graduates, giving them the experience they need to help land a good job. Patrick Brown voted against it today.

(Source: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&BillID=4778&detailPage=bills_detail_debates)

Fact: Patrick Brown also voted against giving free university and college tuition to students from middle and low income families.

(Source: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/house-proceedings/house_detail.do?Date=2016-04-13&Parl=41&Sess=1&locale=en#para603)

Patrick Brown claimed: “LRP2 still going full steam ahead”

Fact: We suspended LRP 2 last fall.

(Source: https://news.ontario.ca/mei/en/2016/09/ontario-suspends-large-renewable-energy-procurement.html)

Patrick Brown claimed: “how is it possible that in Ontario where they’re spending all this new money…and yet they fired 1600 nurses”

Fact: Actually there are more nurses working in Ontario now than ever before.

(Source: http://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/general/43069_stats/2016-membership-statistics-report.pdf)

Patrick Brown claimed: “we have a have-not province”

Fact: In 2016-17 Ontario paid $6.9 billion into the equalization program and only received $2.3 billion from it. According to the Mowat Centre “Ontarians have consistently contributed more to the federal government in total tax revenue than they have received in federal spending in return”.

(Source: https://mowatcentre.ca/mind-the-gap/)

Patrick Brown claimed: “The budget we voted against is anything but balanced”

Fact: The budget is balanced. In fact, in their analysis of the budget, National bank stated: “Making good on a long-standing commitment, Ontario is moving back into the black this fiscal year”

(Source: https://www.nbc.ca/content/dam/bnc/en/rates-and-analysis/economic-analysis/ontario-budget.pdf

Patrick Brown claimed: “Ontario is no longer the economic freight train that every province once envied”

Fact: Ontario has led the G7 in economic growth for the past 3 years

Fact: In the last 10 months Ontario created almost 100,000 new jobs - more than any other province.

(Source: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/start)