Ontario will spend all of the $13.3 billion in pandemic funding it received from the federal government by the end of March, although that won’t change the record deficit it expects to rack up this year.

The province has been criticized for being too slow to spend the one-time funding from Ottawa but Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said Wednesday that the last $2.6 billion of that allotment would be used for a grant program for small business, and to support hospitals and long-term care homes.

GUEST: Stan Cho, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

The Ontario government has announced March Break will be postponed until the week of April 12.

Lecce said postponing the break — a decision based on Williams’ advice — is an important way schools can help limit community transmission.

The province’s largest teachers’ union, the association representing public school boards and the Opposition New Democrats had all asked for the March break to go ahead as planned, saying families, students and teachers needed it.

GUEST: Alison Thompson, Professor of Public Health Services at the University of Toronto

-

There’s a footnote buried on page 188 of Ontario's 2020 budget that’s doing a lot of heavy lifting for the province when it comes to explaining its spending on social services.

“Expense sensitivities for Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program do not reflect the impact of COVID-19,” the footnote reads.

The single sentence helps to obscure how, in the midst of the pandemic and record unemployment, Ontario appears to be spending less on social assistance than it did before the coronavirus struck the province. That’s thanks to savings from a reduced social assistance caseload, money clawed back from welfare and ODSP recipients who also received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, and increased federal cash transfers.

Those savings are not disclosed in the budget, which suggests the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services — which doles out social assistance — actually increased spending by $824 million in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

GUEST: John Stapleton, Social Policy Researcher and Consultant

-

Aggressive vaccination and maintaining a stay-at-home order would help Ontario avoid a third wave and another lockdown, health experts advising the province said Thursday as the government prepared to ease restrictions for most regions next week.

The pandemic science advisory group said public health measures, including a provincial lockdown imposed on Boxing Day and stay-at-home order issued last month, have cut COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and positivity rates across Ontario.

But Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of the group, said more contagious variants of COVID-19 are spreading and currently account for five to 10 per cent of all cases.

That will likely cause cases to increase again by late February, Brown said, which is why strong public health measures like a stay-home order and vaccination of vulnerable groups are important.

GUEST: Dr. Alon Vaisman, Infectious Diseases, Infection Control Physician with the University Health Network

-

Trump's defense team faces a heavy burden today, but loyalty to former President hangs over trial

GUEST: Rob Goodman, Professor with the Dept. of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging provinces not to leave COVID-19 rapid tests languishing on their shelves while vaccinations are being administered.

GUEST: Kieran Leavitt Provincial Affairs Reporter for The Toronto Star Edmonton Bureau

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy insists third-quarter financial numbers he released on Wednesday should put to rest the notion the province has been holding back billions in promised COVID-19 funds. But the government’s opposition critics remain unconvinced, pointing to $4.5-billion in rainy-day cash that remains unallocated.

GUEST: Catherine Fife, Finance Critic for the NDP and MPP for Waterloo