Toronto, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to make three New Year’s resolutions: cut the sales tax, keep the books balanced and end corporate welfare handouts.

“Now is the time for New Year’s resolutions,” said CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg. “As we head into 2023, Ford should commit to lowering costs for taxpayers and running a more efficient and effective government.”

The CTF is calling on Ford to make three key resolutions. First, Ford should cut the HST to lower costs faced by consumers due to inflation. Second, Ford should keep the budget balanced instead of returning to the red, as the government has projected. Third, Ford should stop handing out taxpayer dollars to corporations.

“The Ford government brought in $4 billion more in sales tax revenue than it expected last year because of inflation,” said Goldberg. “That money should be returned to taxpayers, where it belongs. Ford can do that by cutting the HST by one percentage point without impacting the province’s bottom line.”

Inflation is also a key rationale for Ford’s second and third resolutions.

“With inflation and interest rates sky-high, now the worst time to go back to running deficits, which is part of the problem in the first place,” said Goldberg. “Deficit spending should be a non-starter.

“Ontarians facing tough times also don’t want to see hundreds of millions of dollars given to companies that don’t need our help. Handing out billions while collecting record tax revenue is simply wrong.”

Earlier this year, the Ford government handed over half a billion dollars to Stellantis, a Fortune 500 company, to retool its plants in Windsor and Brampton, despite the corporation’s strong profits.