As the provincial government prepares to unveil its first budget this spring, Conservative politicians are hitting towns and cites to hear what's on the minds of their constituents.
Finance Minister Vic Fedeli was at the Royal Canadian Legion on St. Vincent Street in Barrie on Wednesday evening to hear from approximately 20 people from various groups who were looking to give their opinions and views as to how the budget should look.
Fedeli, who was joined by local MPPs Doug Downey (Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte), Jill Dunlop (Simcoe North) and Andrea Khanjin (Barrie-Innisfil), spoke to BarrieToday before the event got underway.
“This is one of the pre-budget consultations that we’re holding right across Ontario,” Fedeli said. “You’ll see that we’re not going to say much; we’re here to listen. We’re here to listen to the people of Barrie and the region for ideas that they have to help bring relief to families.”
Fedeli told BarrieToday that despite any flack the current provincial government may get from opposition, staying the course is the only way to go in fixing what he considers financial mismanagement by the former Liberal government.
“It is critical that we balance the budget,” said Fedeli. “The previous government was spending $40 million a day more than they took in. That’s irresponsible, that’s just ridiculous and nobody can sustain that. That means there would no money for health or education in the future, so it’s critical that we do this.”
Downey, who was on the panel to hear from speakers and also took time to meet with them afterward, said this type of meeting was the only way to get to the heart of the matter.
“It is critical to listen to the people and this was definitely a listening exercise for us,” Downey said. “We have to hear from people and their experiences as they’re the ones that are living every day with their reality of what’s happening in their organizations.”
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre president and CEO Janice Skot was among those in attendance who presented to the panel. Touching on the long-range plan to develop a second south campus, while also redeveloping the current Georgian Drive facility, Skot told the panel of a recent incident which shows the importance of needing more beds.
“Last week, an ambulance brought an 85-year-old man with pneumonia to our emergency department,” said Skot. “He was seen by a doctor within one hour who decided he was sick enough to be admitted. Unfortunately, there were no beds available and this man waited 39 hours on a stretcher in our busy, noisy emergency department before finally getting a bed on an in-patient unit.
"This is not an uncommon situation and a crippling capacity challenge meant that last year 1,800 admitted patients had to be cared for in unconventional spaces," she added.
You can participate in the prebudget consultations until Feb. 8. To find out more, click here.
