Thursday, March 23, 2023
All Ontarians are facing increasing financial challenges and the province’s hardworking public servants are no exception, which is why AMAPCEO, the union representing nearly 16, 000 professionals working in the public interest across Ontario, was disappointed to see so little investment in public services across the board in the government’s 2023 budget released earlier today.
The government is championing its ability to balance the province’s budget but have failed to mention that they did so by restricting public servants’ wages through the unconstitutional Bill 124, during a period of rising cost of living and punishingly high inflation.
“The government’s decision to use this budget to ignore needed investments in public services is disappointing,” said Dave Bulmer, President/CEO of AMAPCEO. “We continue to recommend dropping the planned appeal of Bill 124, which would both save time and money, and demonstrate respect for the province’s public servants.”
Meanwhile, the 2023 budget included several measures targeted at the private sector, including financial incentives and corporate tax breaks, but little reference to the Ontario public service as a whole. This is disappointing but not entirely surprising, following years of under-investment in public services and increasing use of private contractors.
AMAPCEO also notes that while the government’s budget does include some investments in health care training, recruitment, and infrastructure, the government still intends to move ahead with their expansion of the number of medical procedures performed at privately-run clinics.
In fact, the government’s language on this issue is telling: they claim patients will “pay with their OHIP card rather than their credit card.” The reference to patients paying —rather than the province itself —does little to reassure those who see these measures as a first step toward privatization. Ontario’s health care system not only needs to better staffed, better funded, and with stronger infrastructure, it also needs to continue to be fully public.
The government’s trumpeted investments in health care come as they plan to quietly scrap the minimum three days of paid sick leave. Forcing workers to come to work sick can only increase the burden on an already-strained health care system. AMAPCEO urges the government to expand, not eliminate, the number of guaranteed paid sick days.
While it was a relief to see the government take a small step away from the austerity approach that has marked previous budgets, for many Ontarians these measures won’t go far enough.