Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance

Click here to review our Budget Submission to the Minister of Finance.

The following outlines our asks:

1. The Government immediately invest $300 million on an annualized basis to stabilize the foundation of existing services. This funding will enable agencies to cover the inflationary pressures that have built up over the past nine years with no base funding and to address the impacts of the unfunded liability of the Pay Equity Act. We encourage the Government of Ontario to immediately enact recommendations 6, 7 and 8 of the Gender Wage Gap Steering Committee Final Report. Once these changes are in place, the government must also commit to funding Pay Equity adjustment to completion. This will prevent the loss of 3,600 full-time positions and mitigate the risk of impact to services for people with developmental disabilities and their families.
2. Annualized funding on a long-term basis to address the ever-increasing wait list is a reasonable and obvious and obvious solution.
3. Individuals and families want a choice between managing their own funds or having an agency assist them where individuals have support dollars allocated to them to meet their needs.
4. A mechanism to monitor and adjust funding levels annually is urgently required. Statistical information such as the annual cost of living allowance (COLA) and any wage adjustments provided or legislated by the Government of Ontario should be used to assist in determining if funding levels are up to date.
5. The negative impacts that Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2107, has created on the Broader Public Service Sector offer a significant opportunity for the Government of Ontario to take constructive funding action.