Ontario’s fiscal watchdog is again questioning the government’s accounting, warning the province’s deficit projections are far greater than outlined in last month’s budget.
Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk, who has an ongoing accounting dispute with Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals, said Wednesday that this year’s shortfall is $11.7 billion, not $6.7 billion, as Finance Minister Charles Sousa forecast March 28.
“When expenses are understated, the perception is created that government has more money available than it actually does,” Lysyk wrote in a scathing 27-page pre-election report to the Legislature.
“Government decision-makers might, therefore, allocate money to initiatives and programs that is actually needed to pay for expenses the government has failed to record properly,” she continued.
Lysyk calculated that the deficit forecast for next year is $12.2 billion, not the $6.6 billion Sousa predicted, and for 2020-21 it’s $12.5 billion, not $6.5 billion.
“More money will need to be borrowed to pay for the unrecorded expenses even when the government reports an annual surplus or a balanced budget.”