Group anxious for seat at budget table

When the Ontario government announced it was holding consultations for a spring budget to be delivered March 31, they also announced they had already talked earlier that day to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

That comes as no surprise to Rev. Susan Eagle, chair of the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC). It’s been a fight for the group representing a broad range of faith groups from Ontario’s Catholic bishops to Toronto rabbis, the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Salvation Army to even get a slot at the in-person hearings.

“We stopped a long time ago getting a spot in Toronto. The only time we could get a slot was when we went to Peterborough or Kitchener or Windsor,” Eagle said. “Even with the online stuff, we are not a high priority.”

Even though Finance Minister Peter Bethenfalvy was in a virtual conference with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce before anybody else knew budget consultations were open, that doesn’t mean the business leaders were getting preferential treatment, Finance Ministry spokesperson Emily Hogeveen told The Catholic Register.

“Absolutely not,” Hogeveen wrote in an e-mail.

“The timing of the news release does not mean that the Ontario Chamber of Commerce is getting preferential treatment. The news release got bumped, due to the small business portal being available and we put that out first, among many other government communiques.”

But Hogeveen’s explanations simply don’t line up with the experience of church groups and non-profits trying to get the ear of government during pre-budget consultations in recent years, said Eagle. There are many indications that the government doesn’t really want to hear from the churches and social agencies, she said. At the fall 2020 budget consultations, Eagle’s submission that a guaranteed livable income could protect the vulnerable from unexpected economic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic met a distinctly negative response.

“When I spoke to it in the fall budget, the minister rolled his eyes. I guess budgets aren’t the only thing that tell you what the government’s priorities are. The behaviour of the ministers also tells you something,” she said.

There are other ways a business-first agenda dominates the budget hearing process, said Eagle.

“Given the way in which the budget is framed and the questions that are being asked, we already walk into a situation that is predisposed to hear business concerns,” she said. “It was all about how to improve business in Ontario. No place was there really room to talk about the vulnerable in our community.”

Hogeveen insists the government is anxious to hear from every sector of Ontario society.

“Minister Bethlenfalvy will host several virtual town hall-style meetings which usually feature people from various non-profit groups, municipal agencies, health-care agencies and community business leaders,” she said. “Any individual or business is able to make a submission and all of these are considered by the ministry.”

Eagle hopes to make a live presentation again this year, believing such presentations have greater weight and allow for greater possibilities than filling out the online survey or sending an email. 

ISARC would urge the government “to look at the abysmal level of social assistance rates that are leaving people so far behind that they’re struggling to survive,” she said. The group would also bring up a guaranteed livable income again.

“Whether it’s this pandemic or the next one or the next one, or the economy goes down, a guaranteed income is the one way we can quickly protect our community and ensure our community is not ravaged by this,” she said.