Skip to content

$15B deficit left behind by Liberals 'almost unbelievable,' Downey says

‘Everybody knew that the Liberals were messing around with the books. We just didn’t know how bad, and we didn’t know that it was intentional,' Downey says
downey
Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MPP Doug Downey (Kevin Lamb photo for Barrie Today)

The Ontario Progressive Conservative government released the results of their independent probe into the frightening fiscal legacy left from years of Liberal rule on Friday and the results were shocking, even to the PCs.

“Everybody knew that the Liberals were messing around with the books. We just didn’t know how bad, and we didn’t know that it was intentional,” said Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MPP Doug Downey.

Downey, who is also the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance, says he knew the provincial debt was a big deal for his local constituents as he heard it repeated constantly back when he was on the campaign trail.

“When I knocked on doors, I got physical reactions from people when I talked about hydro and the debt. People were so upset,” said the Orillia lawyer.

“I’ve been involved in politics for 25 years, and I’ve never seen people so upset over one issue – the manufacturing of the debt and the cost of living. I really saw that when knocking on doors consistently.”

The Independent Financial Commission of Inquiry report, delivered on Aug. 30 but released on Friday during a press conference given by Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli, outlines that leading up to the election, Liberals boasted of a 2017-2018 surplus, but the report indicates there was actually a public accounts deficit of $3.7 billion for the 2017-2018 period.

“They straight-out lied to us,” said Fedeli. “And that’s just the beginning.”

Fedeli continued to state that the Liberals saddled Ontario with a $15 billion deficit over their reign.

Key findings in the report include the provincial debt growing to $263.2 billion over the past 27 years, while Ontario's ratio of net debt-to-GDP ratio grew from 13.4 per cent to 38 per cent.

Downey provided examples of the Liberals cooking the books, saying the Liberals put on the books an asset of $1.4 billion in savings.

“It was just a made up number,” says Downey. “It’s almost unbelievable.”

When the Auditor General released a report earlier this year pointing out inconsistencies, the Liberals publicly pushed back on her, says Downey. One of the findings of the report released on Friday was also that there was a deterioration in the relationship between the government and the Auditor General over time as a result.

“That’s what makes it different than just a traditional change of government,” says Downey.

According to the report, Ontario’s Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk concluded that, in essence, the Liberal government was making up its own accounting rules. Lysyk concluded that the Liberals failed to account for two major projects: The Fair Hydro Plan and two provincial pension funds.

In a statement from the Auditor General’s office also released on Friday, Lysyk stated that for the first time in the last three years, she has issued a clean audit opinion on the Province’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

“The accounting issues that were of past concern—the treatment of certain pension plans’ surpluses and the financing and accounting design of the 25 per cent electricity-rate reduction—have been corrected,” she said. “The statements can be relied on to fairly and accurately present Ontario’s fiscal results for the year ended March 31, 2018 in all material respects.”

According to Downey, two things need to happen to improve the province’s financial situation.

“We need to re-establish a professional relationship with the Auditor General, that’s really important,” says Downey. “We also need to use real accounting terms, and not create accounting terms to achieve ends.”

Restoring the province’s AAA credit rating is one of the key recommendations Downey says will also be looked at.

“We need to restore trust. When you have trust and you have a solid balance sheet, then your credit rating improves,” he says.

During the press conference, Fedeli called for the Liberal Party to answer for the mistakes of the past.

“People deserve answers and the people of Ontario deserve those answers,” Fedeli said.

Downey says the next steps are already underway with the treasury board going through the audit line-by-line to build the Fall Economic Statement, which he says will be released sometime in the fall.

To read the full report, click here.


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.




Jessica Owen

About the Author: Jessica Owen

Jessica Owen is an experienced journalist working for Village Media since 2018, primarily covering Collingwood and education.
Read more