David Orazietti's take on the provincial budget

The following statement about the new Ontario budget was released by Sault Ste. Marie MPP David Orazietti.

************************** Orazietti announces provincial budget will promote prosperity in Sault Ste. Marie and Northern Ontario

Comprehensive four-year plan invests in people's priorities, generates revenues, cuts costs

Queen's Park - "Today, our government's budget has returned the respect Sault Ste Marie and Northern Ontario deserve," said David Orazietti, MPP.

"This is a comprehensive, four-year plan to invest in health and education, foster economic growth and balance the budget. Ontarians spoke to us about the need to transform the health care system and the importance of investing in education," Orazietti said, after Finance Minister Greg Sorbara tabled his first Budget.

"We increased funding to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) by $35 million to $135 million, which makes it a more effective tool for economic growth. We created a $10 million 'Go North' Investment Program, a Grow Bonds Program, increased funding for Northern colleges, removed the Muskoka region from accessing funding under the (NOHFC) and are taking essential steps to improve Northern infrastructure." said Orazietti.

"These initiatives illustrate our government's commitment to re-invigorating economic growth in Sault Ste. Marie and Northern Ontario."

Northern initiatives in today's budget include:

Enact a Northern Prosperity Plan, to help Northern communities attract and retain investment and jobs by: • Investing $285 million in highway rehabilitation and expansion in 2004-05, through the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines

• Increasing the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) by $35 million to $135 million to support private sector job creation and vital community infrastructure

• Returning to the geographic definition of Northern Ontario, for the purposes of government policy and program delivery, to the boundaries that were in place prior to September 2000. The main effect of this will be to return Muskoka to Southern Ontario so the NOHFC will truly fund economic development in Northern Ontario

• Dedicating $10 million to launch a 'Go North Initiative' that will replace the previous government's Northern Tax incentive Zone, which would have disadvantaged existing businesses and added fiscal strain to municipalities. The 'Go North Initiative' will be a more targeted program aimed at attracting business and industry investment to Northern cities by marketing the region's inherent strengths nationally and internationally

• Investing $20 million to update technology and equipment in our colleges, and $25 million in college stabilization funding for smaller rural and Northern colleges

• Introducing a Northern Ontario Grow Bonds program to foster small and medium-sized business development by issuing government-backed bonds

• Providing funding for the new Northern Ontario Medical School which will lead to greater physician accessibility in Sault Ste. Marie

• Financing the pensions of retired Algoma Steel Inc. workers in Sault Ste. Marie

Major initiatives announced in today's Budget include:

Transforming Health Care

• shorter wait times for cancer patients; nine new MRI and CT sites and 9,000 additional cataract surgeries by 2005-06; and by 2007-08, 36,000 additional cardiac services and 2,340 additional joint replacements

• 150 new Family Health Teams of doctors, nurse practitioners and other health care providers established across Ontario over the next four years to deliver around-the-clock primary care

• by 2007-08, enhancements to home care will provide an additional 95,700 Ontarians annually with care in their homes

• an additional $406 million this year for long-term care, opening 3,760 new beds and providing 2,000 more nurses and other staff

• $11.3 billion in operating support for hospitals in 2004-05

• over $600 million this year to support and reform primary care in Ontario

• community health centres to receive an additional $14 million in 2004-05 to enhance primary care delivery at 54 existing centres

• double the number of opportunities for international medical graduates

• purchasing 12,000 bed lifts for hospitals and long-term care facilities

• adding chickenpox, meningitis and pneumonia to the children's free immunization program this year, potentially saving families more than $600 per child, and

• providing $273 million to public health this year to fight infectious diseases like SARS and West Nile.

"Our investments in primary care will ensure care this year for up to 167,000 Ontarians who can't find a doctor," said Orazietti MPP.

Success for Students

• by 2007-08, the government's investment in Ontario's schools will increase by $2.1 billion, increasing per-student funding by more than $1,100

• smaller class sizes phased in over four years, with a cap of 20 children per class for JK to Grade 3.

• the Province will help children from low-income families arrive in class ready to learn by providing an additional $4 million annually to community organizations that provide school-based children's breakfast programs

• increasing from 50 per cent to 75 per cent the target rate for students meeting the provincial standard for reading, writing and math by 2007-08

• funding training spaces for 1,000 additional teachers in 2005-06

• training 4,000 new teacher specialists in literacy and numeracy, bringing the total to 8,000, and

• more than doubling the number of schools that receive extra support from turnaround teams.

To read the rest of David Orazietti's statement, please click here.