Ontario's Ecological Deficit 2000

Measuring Ontario's Ecological Deficit: A Comparison of Economic Instruments in Ontario's Budget 2000
Unsustainable Growth	Sustainable Growth	NET RESULT
Cars and Highways	Transit
$1 billion for Ontario’s highway system	No funding for operating costs (Municipalities can apply to SuperBuild for transit infrastructure)	- $1billion
phasing out the Retail Sales Tax on motor vehicle insurance premiums by April 1,2004	no comparable subsidy for transit users	unspecified

Urban Development	Compact Redevelopment
$1billion of SuperBuild money for infrastructure, including environmental projects and projects for the economic development of urban centres	Toronto Waterfront Redevelopment (no amount specified, although Finance Minister Ernie Eves has said SuperBuild money can go towards the Waterfront redevelopment)	- $1 billion (unless funds are committed to green infrastructure that promotes compact development or green energy)

Rural Economic Growth	Protection of Agricultural Land
$600 million for rural development, including $400 million for infrastructure	No incentives for protecting prime agricultural land	- $600 million

Mining and Mineral Exploration	Renewable Resource Development
cutting the Ontario Mining Tax from 20 percent to 10 per cent 10 year Mining Tax exemption $3 million for advanced technologies for mineral exploration	$50 million to support tourism over 4 years	difficult to measure

Health Care	Pollution Prevention
$100 million over the next four years to expand Ontario’s primary care system $54 million for priority programs such as cancer care $500 million for research infrastructure, including cancer care facilities	No funding for the prevention of environmental causes of cancer and asthma, which in turn would reduce the need for primary care	- $575 million
	NET ECOLOGICAL DEFICIT	- $3.17 billion, plus unspecified development subsidies.