The MPP for Hastings-Lennox & Addington says he was pleased that Ontario’s economic statement included plans to address a housing shortage.
Ric Bresee says the Conservative government is conscious that people are struggling with inflation and the rising cost of living.
The document says Ontario will remove the provincial portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax for those building rental units in an effort to bring housing costs down.
“We keep falling back to the very simple statement that the more supply there is, the more reasonable the prices will be,” Bresee says. “We have to encourage the builders to build rental accommodations.”
The report also says Ontario is projecting a deficit of $5.6 billion in 2023-24, but expects to have a surplus by 2025-26.
Bresee says he describes himself as a “fiscal Conservative” and would rather his government not have a deficit.
But, he says this one was unavoidable, since the current government is still paying down a deficit it inherited from the previous government.