BREAKING: Ontario budget to be tabled May 15 #CanadaFinance

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy will table Ontario’s budget on May 15, he announced Thursday.

The minister announced the date in question period in response to a question from PC MPP Tyler Allsopp.

Bethlenfalvy said the Doug Ford government has promised to “do whatever it needs to do to protect Ontario” from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and noted the $11 billion in deferred taxes and other supports the province has already announced.

“But we know more needs to be done,” he said.

The budget will see the province “build more, build faster” and emphasize free trade under Ford’s leadership, said Bethlenfalvy.

“Our plan is to make Ontario and Canada the most competitive economy in the G7,” the finance minister said.

The province has the natural resources and the people “to make Ontario unstoppable,” said Bethlenfalvy.

The Ford government was re-elected in February on a campaign to “Protect Ontario” from the impact of U.S. tariffs, and Ford has repeatedly spoken of spending “tens of billions of dollars” to protect the economy, if necessary.

Asked if it will be a balanced budget, Bethlenfalvy didn’t directly answer, but said the government has been “fiscally responsible.”

“The budget will really tackle our economy and protecting businesses,” he added.

Ontario’s Skills Development Fund for retraining workers is part of that, he said.