FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

29 September 2026

TORONTO, ON — In response to the Financial Accountability Office (FAO)’s economic and budget outlook released today, Ontario Liberal Finance & Trade Critic, Stephanie Bowman, said:

Today’s FAO report is a verdict on this government’s poor management of government finances and the economy: weak growth, mounting deficits, no path to a balanced budget, and fiscal sustainability guardrails this government has blown straight past.

We knew this was coming. Ontario’s economy is facing some of the strongest headwinds in the country. But employment growth has been slowing since 2022 – long before U.S. tariffs – and according to the FAO, job creation this year will be the weakest since 1993. More than 600,000 workers don’t have a job and Ontario’s 7.2% unemployment rate in the first eight months of this year is only ahead of Newfoundland & Labrador, and P.E.I.

Doug Ford called an unnecessary, expensive early election and told Ontarians he needed a ‘strong mandate’ to protect the province. Ontarians are still waiting for the protection. Most of the tariff relief he announced in 2025 has expired and no additional support was offered to households or businesses after the recent tariff escalation.

The failing Doug Ford Conservative government is mismanaging our economy. He came to office promising to balance the budget in four years. He didn’t do it when revenues were increasing 5.4% annually, so he certainly won’t be able to do it now that revenue growth is likely just 2.8% per year.

Taxpayers will see the province’s debt top $595 billion by the end of the decade, with interest payments growing 1.7x faster than health care spending, and 2.7x faster than education.

Amid a cost-of-living crisis, and at a time when businesses are facing uncertainty, this government should be focused on providing stability, and supporting businesses and workers. Instead, the failing Ford Conservatives are spending millions on a private jet, pet projects and self-promoting ads to say they are protecting Ontario – instead of actually protecting Ontario. Every taxpayer in Ontario is paying for Ford’s bad decisions. Never has a government spent so much to deliver so little.