Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

Conclusion
Chapter 1: The Need for Strong Fiscal Action
Ontario’s finances do not yet constitute a crisis and with early, strong action, a crisis can be
averted. Crises always spur action, but almost inevitably, they also bring forth bad public policy
decisions. Faced with the need to make huge corrections in very short order, governments
grasp at what look like fast and easy solutions, but too often meet the demands of the present
by pushing off expenses for future generations to pay. The current actions of many U.S. states
as they cope with the recession and a terribly weak recovery should serve as a warning.
Almost all are bound by constitutional requirements to balance their budgets and many are
responding to sudden revenue drops with spending cuts that are utterly inappropriate — like
savage cuts to education budgets that will undermine the lives of their children for decades.
The lessons of history and of what is happening elsewhere today are clear: The government
must take daring fiscal action early, before today’s challenges are transformed into tomorrow’s
crises. A challenge, unlike a crisis, can be met with well-considered, firm, steady and even
imaginative action that deals with the problems methodically and phases in the needed
changes over a period of years, giving people a chance to adjust. The government’s decision
to create the <strong>Commission</strong> and give it a broad mandate to address near- and long-term fiscal
issues signals its intent to address these challenges and head off any crisis. Our goal in this
report is to set out the kind of measures that will meet the task.
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