Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy needs to take some remedial classes, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
The CTF recently released its report cards for all provincial finance ministers across the country.
None of them did particularly well. Saskatchewan’s Jim Reiter scored the highest, with a B+ grade. No finance minister received an A, in large part because every province plans to borrow more money this year.
But Bethlenfalvy ranked near the bottom of the class.
Scored worst of the bunch was Manitoba’s Adrien Sala, who received an F for increasing the debt, out-of-control interest payments, soaring government spending, new corporate welfare, and increasing taxes through bracket creep.
But Bethlenfalvy only barely avoided a failing grade, receiving a D- from the CTF.
The CTF looked at four categories when judging a finance minister’s performance: debt, debt interest payments, spending increase, and tax relief.
On the debt front, Bethlenfalvy scored an F. The Ford government is increasing the debt by almost $22 billion compared to last year’s budget. And, by the end of the year, the debt will reach a jaw-dropping $461 billion.
That works out to a per-person debt of $28,472, the second highest in the country.
How did Bethlenfalvy do on interest payments?
Not much better: on interest payments, Bethlenfalvy scored a D.
Debt interest payments are expected to cost Ontario taxpayers a record $16.2 billion, which is more than the province spends on post-secondary education. It works out to more than $1,000 per Ontarian, which is the fourth highest in the country.
On spending, Bethlenfalvy got another F. The Ford government is increasing spending in 2025-26 by 7.9 per cent, which is dramatically higher than this year’s inflation rate, which is south of three per cent. It’s also the third highest spending increase in the country.
The only reason the CTF didn’t give Bethlenfalvy an overall grade of F was his performance on the tax relief file, which earned him a B grade.
The Ford government made its temporary 6.4 cent per litre gas tax cut permanent in this year’s budget, a tax cut that has saved the average family more than $1,000 since it was first introduced in 2022.
Unfortunately, Ontarians earing more than $150,000 a year continue to struggle with bracket creep, as the province continues to not index its tax brackets above the $150,000 threshold. That’s a factor that held Bethlenfalvy back from earning an even higher grade on the tax relief front.
All in all, Bethlenfalvy’s decent performance on tax relief ensured that he didn’t receive a failing grade in this year’s CTF report. Only Manitoba’s Sala, along with Newfoundland and Labrador’s Siobhan Coady, failed to pass the class. But it’s clear there’s a lot Bethlenfalvy can do to improve his grade ahead of next year.
To get a better grade next year, Bethlenfalvy needs to spend less, borrow less, and tax less. Spending will surely go up next year, but spending increases should be held to inflation plus population growth. That, in turn, will help decrease pressure on interest payments and could leave room for eliminating bracket creep without increasing the deficit, which could boost Bethlenfalvy’s grades in the spending increase and tax relief categories.
If Bethlenfalvy wants to move up the chart in next year’s rankings, he’d better start saying no to more spending and start saying yes to more tax relief.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
