When Doug Ford was campaigning to be Ontario’s next premier, he vowed to find efficiencies in government spending in order to lower taxes. A promise like that certainly resonated with upset voters who didn’t think to ask just what programs would be affected.
Well, now that Ford is premier, we’re getting a clearer picture of what those cuts look like.
The most recent announcement is the cancellation of a $100-million school repair fund, and it’s caused legitimate concerns from school boards right across the province.
The money was targeted to retrofit many of our old, dilapidated school buildings that are dealing with poor lighting, inefficient heating systems and drafty windows.
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The funding for these upgrades was coming from the revenue generated from the cap-and-trade program, but since the Ford government cancelled that program, the money for school upgrades is gone and much-needed repairs to school buildings will likely not get done.
I’m sure that when Ford was promising to cut wasteful government spending, not too many of us thought that would includemuch-needed upgrades to the buildings where our kids go to school every day, but it seems that old school buildings will be part of the collateral damage in Ford’s austerity purge.
I guess that when Doug Ford told us he was for the people, he wasn’t including our children.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML