Last week's budget in Ontario has not kept its residents from giving the Progressive Conservative government low ratings on key issues, despite preferring them more than the other parties.New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds four-in-five residents criticizing the government’s handling of health care and the cost of living, the two top issues in the province as identified by Ontarians.The Ontario budget announced last week was the largest in the province's history, with $214.5 billion in new spending. The 2024 budget carries billions in health care spending, which will be injected into the system to help tackle overtaxed emergency rooms and access challenges. Criticism on this issue is notably non-partisan, with even seven-in-10 of those who say they would vote for the Progressive Conservatives currently saying that health care has been poorly handled.One challenge that may increase over the coming years, after Ford’s government made a $10-billion adjustment to its financial forecast, is perceived handling of the provincial deficit. Last year the government projected a $200-million surplus for the 2024/25 year. This has been replaced by a new projection of a $9.8 billion deficit. Even before this announcement Ontario residents were more than twice as likely to criticize the government’s handling of the deficit than to praise it (61% poor job, 25% good job).There are, however, some recent policy announcements that have broad support in Ontario. As a part of its “Get It Done Act”, the government announced a ban on new tolls on provincial highways and automatic licence plate renewals for drivers in good standing. Both are supported by more than seven-in-10.More controversial are two additional policies. Half say they support the move to require a referendum on a future provincial carbon tax program, while one-quarter oppose it and one-quarter are unsure. Another decision to classify new highway projects as “low risk” to speed up environmental assessments, divides Ontarians. With more than $27 billion over ten years allocated in the 2024 budget for highway expansion and rehabilitation, this issue will likely draw considerable attention throughout the year.Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government scores second worst in the country on the Government Performance Index (23), which compiles an average performance score across all provincial issues. Only New Brunswick (22) fares worse, against a national average of 31.The Progressive Conservatives hold a ten-point lead in vote intention over the second place Liberals (27%) and the third place NDP (25%).
