$130 billion for infrastructure promised in Ontario

What was in the thwarted Budget presented by Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government that has spawned a June 12 election in Ontario?

Besides proposing a new mandatory provincial pension plan and raising the minimum wage to $11 per hour, the May 1 budget proposed spending over $130 billion on infrastructure investments in the next 10 years.

The province said it would dedicate $29 billion over the next 10 years for transportation infrastructure, public transit and other priority infrastructure projects — $15 billion for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and nearly $14 billion for outside the GTHA.

The government also pledged $11 billion over the next 10 years for elementary and secondary education infrastructure, and $11 billion for major hospital expansions and redevelopments.

After the New Democratic Party under leader Angela Horwath refused to support the budget, the Premier went to Lieutenant Governor David C. Onley and recommended dissolving parliament and having an election.