TORONTO – Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced that the retroactive cuts he had previously announced to municipal budgets have been cut, but that the future cuts are uncut.
“We have cut the cuts,” said Ford. “But we will not cut the other cuts.”
“Our cities need to cut their spending, but the cuts cut too deep, so we cut the cuts to give them more time to cut,” he added.
The Ford government maintains this is not a reversal of policy, as they are still cutting something.
“The people elected us to cut something every day. And even if the thing we cut is one of our own cuts, that still counts,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark.
Nearly all of Ontario’s municipal leaders had decried the budget cuts, saying they would have drastic, negative impacts on vital services like health and public safety. But thanks to the Ford government, that will now only be a problem in 6 months (and beyond).
“We’re a government that listens,” said Ford. “Specifically, we listen to our poll numbers.”
