Ontario's fall budget may have larger deficit than last year due to U.S. tariffs

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced his fall economic statement will be released next Thursday, October 29th. He spoke to a crowd at the Canadian Club, warning the deficit will be higher than last year's $13 billion. He did project an increase in the spring budget, though it's unclear how the updated numbers next week will compare. And while deficits are not desirable in the long term, they are necessary in the current environment. And make no mistake, we will not raise taxes. We won't cut health care spending to balance our books. He blames a higher deficit on tariffs and the trade war with the U.S., promising to protect workers and find savings. We will continue to root out wasteful spending, review agencies and ministries for efficiencies, curtail our headcounts. Asked later if curtailing headcounts equals layoffs, he said no, that it's about moving some staff to different jobs. Can we reallocate resources? So we're doing that, we're constantly looking at our political staff, the Ontario Public Service agencies. But how to end up with fewer people working for government? It is possible to reduce your headcount simply by not replacing people when they leave. And I think a lot of what's been happening in Ottawa with the Carney Liberals is going in a similar direction, where they're just trying to cut staffing levels by not replacing everyone who goes. As for the finance minister's comments about getting rid of wasteful spending, here's how the NDP leader responded. Maybe the minister of finance and the premier could actually look inward a little bit at the extraordinary waste of their own caucus and cabinet. And hours later, the premier's office released its latest list of parliamentary assistants. 39 of Doug Ford's MPPs will get a raise with that title, an extra $22,000. Among them, Stan Cho. He resigned as tourism minister in July after expensing thousands of dollars in Toronto hotel stays, even though his riding is in the city. Brenda Reddick-Hopp, CBC News, Toronto.