Ontario grapples with deficit
Banking guru Don Drummond will recommend that Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario Liberals scrap the 30 per cent Ontario Tuition Grant that came into effect just last month, reports the Toronto Star. The former TD Bank chief economist will release a 700-page report on Wednesday that will help the Liberals chart a course to paying down Ontario’s $16 billion deficit. The report suggests spending will need to be limited to just $6.3 billion over the next five years or just 0.8 per cent more per year. That’s an enormous task considering that spending has risen from $83.5 billion in 2005-06 to $124 billion last year. The 30 per cent off tuition grant offers roughly 300,000 college and university students a rebate of $730 or $1,600 each. The program costs nearly $500-million per year.