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Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson calls it a good face on what is actually an awful situation.

On Monday, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the growing economy means her government is on track to eliminate a $5.7 billion dollar deficit by the end of the next fiscal year.

However on Tuesday, the Financial Accountability Officer for the province came out with a different look.

Ontario’s financial watchdog warns the province’s net debt will grow by another $50 billion to $350 billion in the next four years.

The Financial Accountability Office says the net debt will keep growing largely because of the Liberal government’s $160-billion, 12-year plan to invest in infrastructure and public transit projects.

Bisson says he tends to believe the FAO much more.

“That’s what he’s there for,” he said, “He’s there to take a look at the finances of Ontario.”

To provide some more context, the FAO says the debt will also grow because it predicts a return to annual budget deficits in 2018-19, even though the Liberals promise to balance the books next year.

This year’s provincial budget forecast Ontario’s net debt would hit $326.8 billion in 2018-19, which was as far out as its projections went, so the FAO’s prediction of a $350 billion debt by 2020-21 is not a big stretch.

The FAO says Ontario’s net debt “increased significantly” during the 2008-09 recession, and grew by $139 billion between then and 2015-16.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa says the Liberals made a deliberate decision during the recession to stimulate economic growth, which he insists meant the downturn was not as deep or as long as it might otherwise have been.

(With files from The Canadian Press)

Filed under: Local News