Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece says the provincial budget responded in a big way to the needs of our area’s tourism and hospitality sector.
He says the $186 billion budget, released Wednesday, includes the Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant which will give an estimated $100 million in one-time payments of $10,000 and $20,000 to eligible small businesses including hotels, motels and travel agencies.
Pettapiece says the grant is vital to areas like ours.
“We need to keep these things strong and bring tourist dollars into the area, it means so much for our economy.”
Pettapiece adds other investments including $2.8 billion for broadband will be especially important for our region.
The Conservative budget was slammed by the leader of the Opposition, Andrea Horwath.
In a statement Horwath said if this were an NDP budget it would have funded paid sick days and offered paid leave for workers to get the COVID-19 vaccination, “Ontarians deserved a budget that gave them help getting to the other side of the pandemic, and hope for a future they can look forward to.”
Liberal Leader Stephen Del Duca said while he welcomes the increase in spending on health care it falls “woefully short of what Ontarians need.”
Del Duca also says the budget doesn’t offer enough support for women, racialized Ontarians and young people.
Meanwhile, teachers’ unions have slammed the Ford budget for a lack of spending on education.
In a joint statement they claim the Ford government has failed to deliver a budget that keeps up with the rate of inflation and enrollment.
The unions are calling on the province to invest in lower class sizes, enhanced safety measures, mental health support, and support for students with special education needs.