Healthcare, infrastructure funding and labour are top-of-mind for many influential figures in our area as the provincial government prepares its budget for 2024.
As part of the budget process, Rick Byers, the Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Finance, held a consultation in Maitland Friday morning.
Byers was invited by MPP Steve Clark, who also attended the meeting. Speakers including several local mayors, business owners and non-profit representatives explained what they need from the provincial government this year.
“[The consultation was] a really good opportunity those issues to be in the ear of the parliamentary system, in advance of the decision being made within the next month for budget 2024,” Clark said.
Byers agreed, adding many of the ideas presented at the consultation mirrored what he had heard in other parts of Ontario at similar meetings.
“It’s clear that the cost pressures everyone’s been feeling for the last while are being felt firsthand by these organizations,” Byers said. “Whether it’s infrastructure or healthcare or other areas. That was, in fairness, not a surprise. We’ve heard that elsewhere. That was a key message that I took away from the discussion.”
Byers said he expects similar consultations to continue elsewhere in Ontario for the coming weeks before the budget is finalized early in the spring.
In the meantime, the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, made up of members from every party in parliament, is set to visit our region and hear from local stakeholders Tuesday.
That’s happening at the Aquatarium in Brockville from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.