Matthew Lau Says Even Ontario’s NDP Is Sounding the Alarm Over Ford’s Deficit

Ontario’s finances have reached a point where even the provincial NDP is questioning the government’s fiscal management, columnist Matthew Lau argues. The Progressive Conservative government is projecting a $16.9-billion deficit for the current year, a figure that has prompted pointed criticism from opposition leader Marit Stiles. During question period last week, Stiles said the government was running the largest annual deficit in Ontario history. She also accused Premier Doug Ford of failing to protect jobs and manage pressures on health care and schools. Lau notes that the historical comparison is not quite right: Ontario recorded larger deficits, in nominal dollars, in 2009-10 and 2010-11, under the Liberal government. That correction does little to soften Lau’s broader criticism. He contrasts Ford’s current forecast with the $3.7-billion deficit recorded in 2017-18, the year Ford was campaigning against what he called Kathleen Wynne’s reckless spending. Government program spending then stood at $142.5 billion, or 17.3 per cent of Ontario’s gross domestic product. For 2026-27, the fall economic statement projects $229.9 billion, equal to 17.8 per cent of GDP. Lau estimates that if the province had kept spending at the earlier share of the economy, taxpayers would have saved about $6.8 billion this year. His argument is that the current shortfall is not just a matter of historical rankings: it also raises questions about the contrast between Ford’s earlier promises of restraint and the government’s present spending plans. The article also includes several unrelated snippets about pipeline support, a guilty plea in a child’s death, veterans’ housing and federal budget disclosures. Those items do not form part of Lau’s Ontario fiscal argument.