Not a Budget for those on the Margins

 

 A number of pundits and analysts are suggesting that yesterday's Ontario budget, the first for the Conservatives, wasn't as severe as it might have been in terms of deficit-seeking cuts. The finance minister assured us that this budget would be a "pathway to balance." The analysts may be correct to a certain degree but there were significant cuts in certain areas:

Legal aid, including aid for refugee and immigration claimants
Social services
Indigenous Affairs 
Environment

There are concerns about cuts to health care and education as well, but they weren't draconian -- although tell that to teachers whose job opportunities have dried up. 

 Once again there is a sense that the premier's motto "for the people" does not apply to the most vulnerable in the province, whether they are poor, or refugees, or are creatures other than middle and upper class humans. Many of these folk already live precarious lives and its hard to imagine that this budget will help them. This may not be as tough a budget as those in the Premier Mike Harris years, but there are overtones of disdain for the "lower classes" who won't benefit from this government's policies.

It's important for those of us who want to express Christ's justice and compassion in the world to pay attention to what will unfold in the days ahead.