Little money for social programs from Finance Minister

Globe and Mail, by RICHARD BLACKWELL, March 23, 2006

Compared to the billions of dollars being spent on subways, bridges and health care infrastructure, the amount of new money going to help disadvantaged Ontarians in yesterday's provincial budget was decidedly modest.

An extra $218-million will be added to spending on children's and social services in 2006-2007, a 2.2 per cent rise from the $10.1-billion spent in the previous fiscal year.

The new money includes $33-million for a two per cent rise in social assistance payments and shelter allowances for those on welfare meaning a single parent with two children will get a boost of a little over $5 a week this year.

Families on social assistance will get another boost of about $8.50 a week, a result of provincial changes that will trim the amount of money the province claws back from federal child benefits.

Finance minister Dwight Duncan conceded yesterday that the social assistance measures were slim. There's much more to do, we acknowledge that, he told reporters. Hopefully, as prosperity grows we'll be able to build on [what we've done].

He noted that the Liberal government has been boosting the minimum wage in stages over several years, and he claimed that welfare payments to single-parent families have grown by more than 15 per cent since his party took office.

NDP leader Howard Hampton said the government can easily afford to put far more money into social spending. He was particularly critical of the Liberal's reluctance to completely eliminate the claw back of federal child benefits a move that he said would cost the province about $220-million.

The new social spending in the Liberal budget includes about $80-million that is being added to services for people with developmental disabilities. Another $7-million will go to hostels for people who need round the clock supervision.

There was also some new money for aboriginals, but not a lot. The budget included $6-million for libraries on First Nations communities and $800,000 for a summer camp program that is designed to encourage literacy among native young people.

Seniors in Ontario get one small break from among the very few tax changes in the budget. The province is increasing the income threshold at which seniors get property and tax credits clawed back. The change will ensure that the benefit isn't cut off as federal old age support programs rise with inflation.

The budget gave the government a chance to re-announce some of the spending it plans for at-risk youth, a key political priority after the spate of gun killings in Toronto in 2005.

Up to $45-million will go to the Youth Challenge Fund the program that's designed to provide an alternative to gangs and is being chaired by former football star Mike Pinball Clemons. Another $51-million has been allocated to the province's anti-gun and anti-gang strategy. Some of that will go to police and prosecutors.

The Ontario government has also already announced most of the new money that is budgeted for education in the coming year.

That increased spending in 2006-2007 includes an additional $424-million to school boards, and a boost for college and university operating grants.

The province will also increase grants to university students, and it is making that money available to more middle-class families those with family incomes of up to $75,000.

When it comes to child care, the budget says Ontario will put $63.5-million into the federal-provincial child care program in 2006-2007, the last year that the new federal conservative government will support the plan. The province put the same amount into the program for each of the next three years, without the federal help. But the Liberals say they will work with municipalities to try to get Ottawa to reconsider its move to shift funds out of child care.