Province
Législature
Session
Type de discours
Date du discours
Locuteur
Fonction du locuteur
Parti politique
Ontario
26e
4e
Discours du budget
7 février 1963
James N. Allan
Treasurer of Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Mr. Speaker, 
This is the fifth occasion I have had the honour of making the traditional motion that you do now leave the chair and the House resolve itself into committee of ways and means. It is of interest, I think, to point out that this is the earliest date the Budget has been presented since the fiscal year was changed in 1935, 
It gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to inform the House that we are in a much stronger financial position than I thought would have been possible when I brought down my Budget of a year ago. Economic growth has provided us with increased revenue which, when combined with prudent management of our finances, has enabled us to carry out a broad extension of services and still end the current fiscal year with a smaller increase in net debt than occurred in the fiscal year 1961-62. The strength of our financial position is particularly gratifying for it permits us to proceed in the coming fiscal year with a greatly expanded program-a program that is shaped not only to meet the growing requirements for education, highways, health and welfare but to provide added support for the furtherance of measures designed to foster the orderly expansion and development of all sectors of our economy. 
The Government has long considered the promotion of economic growth and development to be one of its major responsibilities. Throughout the years we have continually sought to formulate policies and marshal our resources for the purpose of fostering growth and achieving higher living standards for our people. To this end, we have built up our stock of physical capital assets, having added since the end of World War II almost $2.1 billion of assets in the form of highways, hospitals, schools, parks, rural power transmission lines and other general works and improvements. Equally fundamental to our development over this period has been our investment of more than $3.8 billion in education, health and welfare services. We have increased our aid to municipalities many times in order to assist them in carrying out their programs so vital and necessary for the continuance of economic growth. In recognition of the importance of our natural resource industries, we have extended our programs for the conservation and development of our natural resources. Increasing emphasis has been placed on the development of Northern Ontario, particularly by providing transportation and communication facilities. We have provided technical training facilities so that our people are better equipped for the new industrial technology. Perhaps a key to our future success in the promotion of economic growth has been the development of programs through which we can stimulate the vital secondary manufacturing sector of our economy. 
In view of these policies that we have been following, it is especially satisfying to report that Ontario's Gross Provincial Product rose last year by 8 per cent to nearly $16.2 billion. After eliminating price changes, the increase in 1962 was nearly 7 per cent, the largest increase in any year since the capital investment boom of 1955-56. Personal incomes were up by more than 8 per cent, and there were more people employed than in any previous year of our history. Over the course of the year 45,000 new jobs opened up with the result that the labour market entered the new year in much better balance than has been the case for some time. In the last four months of the year, the seasonally adjusted rate of unemployed averaged less than 4 per cent of the labour force, compared with about 6 per cent in Canada as a whole. Total unemployment was reduced over the year by some 25,000, the largest year-to-year drop at any time since the end of the war. 
The higher level of economic activity in 1962 can be attributed in large measure to the renewed strength in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing output set a new record, with the total value of factory shipments rising by 10 per cent. Generally speaking, the major source of strength lay in the durable manufacturing sector, with the motor vehicle, machinery, heavy electrical machinery and primary iron and steel industries leading the way. The volume of automobile production rose 31 per cent, followed by primary iron and steel with a 10 per cent increase. 
The continuance of the economic expansion that we have been enjoying is one of our greatest challenges, and the Government is taking vigorous action to meet this challenge. A buoyant economy will enable us to obtain the extra revenue needed to meet the ever-increasing demands for education, health, welfare and other services for human betterment. In this rapidly changing world, we must be constantly developing new approaches and policies which will lead to orderly and dynamic growth, for only in this way can we achieve higher productivity, higher incomes and higher standards of living for our people. Later, I shall outline to you some of the new programs and extensions of programs that we are submitting for your approval. Of special interest is our plan for assisting universities in meeting the impending explosive growth in enrolment. This Budget contains many such far-reaching provisions which, I am sure the Honourable Members will agree, will make a major contribution to the further advancement of the economic and social well-being of this Province. 
In pursuing our objective of maintaining an adequate rate of economic growth, it is essential that we exercise the maximum of economy and the most diligent oversight of our expenditures. To this end, we have improved our internal budgeting procedure to permit an even more careful scrutiny of both existing and new programs. This enables us to have a clearer picture of the costs involved in individual programs and to make a more accurate assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of each program. I have been extremely gratified by the manner in which the Ministers and officials of the various departments have supported this innovation in our continuing efforts to obtain the highest possible value out of every dollar of expenditure. 
In the field of taxation, a committee to make a full inquiry into the Provincial and municipal tax system has been appointed. This committee has been requested to recommend means by which our tax structure can be made to exert the least possible drag on the people's willingness to work, save and contribute to development. We are determined to avoid any rate or form of taxation that would unduly impede the type of expansion and development our programs are designed to achieve. 
The outlook for the future is one of confidence and optimism. We are experiencing a resurgence of economic activity. Our financial position is strong. Our plans to provide the facilities and services required for the progressive development of the Province are broadly based and soundly conceived. We are ready to proceed with vigour, foresight and imagination to make the most of our great opportunities for future progress. 
SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES, 1962-63 
I am pleased to announce that our financial position permits us to present for your consideration and approval supplementary estimates totalling $35,837,000. 
This year, we are introducing a number of improvements in our grant instalments which will have a beneficial effect in assisting the financial operations of municipalities and school boards. In view of the local problem in financing current expenditures, especially in the earlier part of the calendar year, we propose to increase the number of instalments of certain Provincial grants and to make advances earlier during the year. While these changes will not affect the level of grants payable with respect to the calendar year, the earlier payment of grants will reduce the necessity of local authorities to borrow for current purposes and in consequence effect a reduction in their interest charges. Furthermore, the more even flow of Provincial payments throughout the year will assist the local authorities in arranging their finances more systematically. 
The changes for 1963 apply to the general legislative grants to school boards, the payments by the Province for the cost of education of non-resident pupils whose education is a Provincial responsibility, and municipal road subsidies for maintenance and capital purposes. The general legislative grants will be paid in four instalments, while the payments under the other two programs will be made in three instalments. Full details of these changes in the number and timing of instalments will be made available in a few days to all municipalities and school boards throughout the Province. 
Two advance payments will be made this month; the first, an advance on the 1963 general legislative grants equal to approximately 10 per cent of the 1962 net grant and, the second, an advance on the payments respecting the cost of education of non-resident pupils of approximately 45 per cent of the estimated cost for 1963. The supplementary estimates include $20.0 million to provide for these advance payments. An advance payment on municipal road subsidies to be made in May of this year will not affect our expenditures in the current fiscal year. 
We believe these changes will be very helpful to the municipalities and school boards. In the coming year, further studies will be given to all payments made by the Province to municipal and school authorities with a view to making additional improvements that will assist them in their financing. 
We are also making available out of the current fiscal year's revenue an additional $10.0 million to construct and equip vocational units for school boards. This will bring the Province's total contribution this year to $39.0 million. 
In addition, there are other special grants and payments as follows: $3.4 million for special grants to public hospitals; a special contribution of $1.0 million each to the Teachers' Superannuation Fund and the Public Service Superannuation Fund; $200,000 for the Ontario Mental Health Foundation; $150,000 to the Ontario Heart Foundation and miscellaneous grants totalling $87,000. 
SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL OPERATIONS IN 1962-63 
I should now like to present a summary-based on nine months' actual and three months' forecast - of the financial operations of the Province in the current fiscal year. 
Net ordinary expenditure, including $35.8 million in supplementary estimates and $39.0 million for sinking fund but excluding $70.0 million for capital payments financed out of current revenue, is estimated at $915.3 million. Net capital expenditure on physical assets is $214.8 million, consisting of $176.6 million for Provincial highways and municipal roads, $31.9 million for public works, $4.5 million for conservation projects, $1.1 million for mining and logging roads and $0.7 million for rural power lines. Our combined net ordinary and capital expenditures in 1962-63 are estimated at $1,130.1 million, an increase of $152.6 million over the corresponding expenditures of $977.5 million in 1961-62. 
Of the $152.6 million increase in net ordinary and capital expenditures in 1962-63, education accounts for $92.1 million or over 60 per cent of the growth in expenditure. Other increases in expenditures include $15.4 million for health, $12.2 million for highways and roads, $3.5 million for lands and forests and $3.6 million for public welfare. 
Net ordinary revenue and net capital receipts for 1962-63 are estimated at $987.7 million, of which $2.4 million represents net capital receipts. This is an increase of $160.3 million over the 1961-62 combined net ordinary revenue and net capital receipts. The major proportion of the increase in our revenue results from the first full year of operation of the retail sales tax and the improvement in our share of the individual income tax field from approximately 14 per cent to 16 per cent of the Federal Government's gross rates of tax. Economic growth also made an important contribution to the marked improvement in our revenues. Principal sources of revenue are: Corporations Tax, $182.0 million; Personal Income Tax, $151.8 million; Retail Sales Tax, $174.0 million; Gasoline Tax, $170.0 million; Liquor Control Board, $90.0 million; Motor Vehicle Licenses, $70.9 million and Succession Duty, $44.0 million. 
Our interim surplus on ordinary account is estimated at $30,000, after providing $70.0 million for capital payments financed out of ordinary revenue and $39.0 million for sinking fund. After taking into account our net capital expenditure of $214.8 million and net capital receipts of $2.4 million, our shortfall of revenue is therefore $103.4 million. Through prudent management we have been able to carry out a broad program, provide $35.8 million in supplementary estimates and still end the fiscal year with a shortfall of revenue which is $20.2 million below that which I anticipated a year ago. 
ONTARIO'S NET CAPITAL DEBT 
In the post World War II era, this Government has spent nearly $2.1 billion on our highways and roads, hospitals, schools and other physical assets. This vast capital investment program is a clear indication of our confidence in Ontario and our willingness to undertake the capital expenditures required to accommodate rapid economic growth. To sustain this growth in the future, we are maintaining a high level of capital construction. 
The financing of our capital program calls for a delicate balance. By financing a portion of our capital expenditures through borrowing, we have maintained our tax structure at a level conducive to economic growth and development. At the same time we have preserved our favourable credit position in the money market by financing a substantial portion of our capital expenditures out of current revenues. Thus, while we have undertaken capital expenditures of nearly $2.1 billion, our net capital debt has risen by only $836.2 million since 1946. In terms of the purchasing power of the dollar in 1946, our net capital debt per capita has actually dropped from $118 in 1946 to $94 in 1963. 
Net capital debt at March 31, 1963 is estimated at $1.3 billion, an increase of $107.3 million over the 1962 figure. This increase is remarkably small ill view of our increased expenditures and, in particular, our near record $214.6 million capital program. This year we will have an increase in net capital debt considerably less than the $116.4 million increase incurred from 1961 to 1962. In assessing the increase from 1962 to 1963, the extra $20.0 million to be provided this month to advance the payment of grants to school boards must be considered. Without this expenditure, the increase in our net capital debt would have been $87.3 million, considerably less than the average increase over the last four years. 
FORECAST OF EXPENDITURES AND REVENUES FOR 1963·64 
Net ordinary expenditure for 1963-64, including $41.5 million for sinking fund but excluding S62.0 million for capital payments to be financed out of ordinary revenue, is forecast at $967.1 million. After allowing for the $2.5 million increment in the provision for sinking fund, the increase this year in departmental expenditures amounts to $49.3 million. Because this is a dynamic year in the development of education, the great proportion of the total increase in net ordinary expenditure has been allotted to our schools and universities. Through the introduction of improved administrative techniques and the careful scrutiny of operations, we have been able to raise the level of many programs and introduce several new measures without adding substantially to our costs. 
Next year net capital expenditure on physical assets will total $238.8 million, an increase of $24.0 million over the present fiscal year. Of this total, $192.5 million or over 80 per cent will be spent on Provincial highways and municipal roads. Public buildings, mainly hospitals and schools, will require $33.0 million. Another highlight of the capital program is the provision of $5.0 million for resource development. 
Honourable Members will be interested to learn that the aggregate of net ordinary expenditure and net capital disbursements is forecast at $1,205.9 million, an increase of $75.8 million over the present fiscal year. 
In 1963-64, major departmental programs (net ordinary and capital expenditures on physical assets combined), with this year's expenditures appended in brackets, will be as follows: Education, $387.5 million ($353.8 million); Highways, $275.0 million ($255.5 million); Health, $132.6 million ($14S.7 million); Public Welfare, $61.8 million ($58.0 million); Public Works, $46.6 million ($43.9 million); Municipal Affairs, $44.7 million ($42.2 million) and Lands and Forests, $38.4 million ($31. 5 million). 
For 1963-64, the aggregate of net ordinary revenue and net capital receipts is forecast at $1,031.1 million, including $1.6 million in net capital receipts. This represents an increase over the current fiscal year of $43.3 million. A substantial part of this increase reflects the improvement in our share of the individual income tax field from 16 per cent to 17 per cent of the Federal gross rates of tax. 
Major sources of revenue for 1963-64 are forecast as follows: Corporations Tax, $190.0 million; Retail Sales Tax, $180.0 million; Gasoline Tax, $176.0 million; Income Tax Collection Agreement, $171.4 million; Liquor Control Board, $94.0 million; Motor Vehicle Licenses, etc., $15.9 million and Succession Duty, $42.0 million. 
I am forecasting a surplus on ordinary account of $378,000, after providing $41.5 million for sinking fund and $62.0 million for financing capital payments out of ordinary revenue. After allowing for net capital expenditure of $238.8 million and net capital receipts of $1.6 million, the shortfall of revenue on overall account is forecast at $133.3 million for the coming fiscal year. 
THE SOCIAL SERVICES AND HUMAN BETTERMENT 
In turning to specific expenditure programs, I should first like to discuss the social services of education, health and welfare. The vital importance with which we regard these services is clearly evident in the growth in our expenditures for these purposes. A decade ago, the combined net expenditures of the Departments of Education, Health and Public Welfare amounted to $150.3 million. In the current fiscal year, they total $557.5 million, including supplementary estimates of $34.8 million, and in the coming fiscal year they will rise to $581.9 million. A decade ago, they accounted for 35 per cent of the Province's net ordinary and capital expenditures; today the proportion is close to one-half. 
Education 
The Province's expenditures on education represent a substantial investment on behalf of our young people, an investment that will bring invaluable returns in future years. The details of these outlays clearly indicate that we consider education to be a continuing process gradually developing as it proceeds from the early grades of elementary school through secondary school to university, technical institutes and other post-secondary education, on to rewarding employment in professions, business and industry. In view of rapidly increasing enrolment at all levels, this Budget provides for substantial increases in assistance to those educational authorities which arc responsible for all the various phases of educational service. 
As a result of increasing school enrolment, which has been growing at the rate of about 70,000 a year, as well as rising costs for instructional salaries and improvements in standards of education, our grants to elementary and secondary school boards in the coming fiscal year will total $233.3 million. This is an increase of $31.9 million over the 1962-63 level of assistance upon excluding the payments to be made before the termination of the current fiscal year for the purpose of advancing the date at which these grants become available to school boards. 
Included in the amount being provided for next year are the special grants payable under The Residential and Farm School Tax Assistance Grant Act. In 1962-63, the rate of assistance per pupil of average daily attendance was S15 for elementary schools and $5 for secondary schools, for a total expenditure of $16.7 million. In the coming fiscal year, the per pupil rates will be increased to $20 for elementary and continuation schools, $30 for secondary academic schools and $40 for secondary vocational schools. This means that the total payments under the Act will rise to an estimated $30.3 million. 
A large expansion of vocational school accommodation is being carried out under the Federal-Provincial Technical and Vocational Training Agreement. Under this arrangement, which went into effect on April 1, 1961, the Province is paying 100 per cent of approved capital expenditures up to April 1, 1963 for vocational school accommodation. The Province is being reimbursed by the Federal Government for 75 per cent of these payments. By the end of 1962, no less than 217 building projects had been completed or were in the process of being completed. Under the agreement, the Province will have paid to school boards by the end of the current fiscal year a total of approximately $170 million. 
We are proceeding with our program of curriculum revision in the elementary and secondary schools. In September, 1962 over 85 per cent of the grade nine students were enrolled in reorganized programs of study, and most of the new courses to be used in the reorganization of the secondary school program have been distributed to the schools. The planning and organization of the procedure for the revision of courses in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6 will be completed in this fiscal year. Emphasis is being placed on consultation with all groups to be affected by changes which may be recommended. In 1963-64, committees will be established to examine fully the role of the school in our society, to determine its aims and purposes in a rapidly-changing world, and to recommend courses which will contribute to the achievement of its objectives. During the next year, research will proceed in many areas of elementary and secondary school education; our research and advisory groups will continue to assist local organizations working in the field of education. 
Important additions and improvements are being made to our already extensive facilities for the training of teachers. A new Teachers' College was opened last year at Windsor, and a new bilingual Teachers' College will be constructed in Sudbury for the training of teachers for elementary schools where English and French are languages of instruction. Work will be commenced on the erection of an Ontario College of Education in London for the preparation of secondary school teachers, and plans will be developed for the establishment of a similar institution in Eastern Ontario. An addition to the College of Education at Toronto is also planned. 
We have launched an aggressive program to increase our technical training facilities at the post-secondary school level. The new wing of the Ryerson Institute of Technology will be opened in the fall of 1963, and in the coming fiscal year work will begin on a new building for the Eastern Ontario Institute of Technology at Ottawa. We are pursuing a vigorous policy of establishing Provincial Institutes of Trades for the training of indentured apprentices and the retraining of the unemployed. Three such Institutions are already in operation in Toronto, and three more are planned for London, Ottawa and Sault Ste. Marie, which are expected to be ready for operation in September, 1964. 
In the next seven years, we shall witness an astounding increase in university enrolment. This year combined graduate and undergraduate enrolment in Ontario universities is nearly 35,000; by 1970 enrolment is expected to exceed 95,000. To meet this rapidly increasing enrolment, the Province and the universities are co-operating in an extensive expansion program. In the current fiscal rear, our maintenance, capital and special purpose grants to universities amount to $45.6 million. In 1963-64, this total will be increased by more than 50 per cent, to approximately $70 million. 
In all areas of the Province, university facilities are being developed or expanded at a rate which would have been considered impossible a few years ago. We are particularly encouraged by the development of new universities. To help these institutions to progress, the Province provides them with a great deal of assistance for their building programs. They are not only increasing our university capacity but they are also providing higher education in areas where this was previously not available. Our newest university, Trent University in Peterborough, will open its doors this September. Laurentian University in Sudbury and York University in Toronto are already established and making a valuable contribution to our educational system. We look forward to welcoming another new university in the near future, the proposed Brock University, which will serve the Niagara Peninsula. The other, older universities will also receive increased Provincial assistance with their maintenance, capital and special expenditures, for they, too, are undertaking massive expansion programs. As announced in the Speech from the Throne, we will provide special grants, totalling $3.0 million, to those universities offering graduate instruction to allow them to expand this important aspect of their activities. 
The total grants to be paid to each university in the coming fiscal year are detailed in the following table: 
Our student aid program enables many students to obtain higher education who would otherwise be unable to do so. In the current fiscal year, some $1.7 million will be awarded in scholarships and bursaries, and $2.4 million will be lent to deserving students. These programs will be expanded in 1963-64, and a new program of post-graduate scholarships, designed to increase the supply of potential staff members for the universities, will be instituted. 
Enrolment in the Province's schools for handicapped children has kept pace with the increases in other educational institutions. The completion in the coming fiscal year of a vocational building on the grounds of the Ontario School for the Deaf in Belleville will permit the record enrolment to benefit from a comprehensive program of vocational training. The new Ontario School for the Deaf in Milton, due to open this year, will increase our facilities greatly and allow a reduction in the age of admission at both schools. The Ontario School for the Blind at Brantford also has a record enrolment, and an additional dormitory is being planned to accommodate the increasing numbers. 
Often overlooked in evaluating our assistance to education is the Province's contribution to the Teachers' Superannuation Fund. In 1963-64, this payment will be increased to 519.5 million. 
Our forecast of total net expenditure for next year for the Department of Education is $387.5 million, an increase of $33.7 million over the 1962-63 expenditure. It is evident that education in this Province is on the march and that the Government is doing its utmost to meet the growing needs of our young people in this modern world of rapidly widening horizons. This challenging task will require the support and co-operation of all the people of Ontario if we are to achieve the essential aims of education in future years. 
Health 
The Government's health services are a necessary part of the daily lives of the people of this Province. The many aspects of preventive medicine in the public health field, the care and treatment of the mentally retarded and the mentally ill, as well as hospital insurance for nearly 97 per cent of our population, encompass a very large part of the daily needs of each individual person. As one problem is overcome, another arises; it is our aim to keep abreast of these new challenges. Because of the importance of our health services, the net expenditures of the Department of Health in the coming fiscal year will be $132.6 million, of which $55.9 million will be for the Ontario Hospital Services Commission. 
One of our major programs is the further extension and expansion of our public health services. An additional health unit was established last year in the North Bay area, and with the opening of the Grey County Health Unit this July, the number of health units in Ontario will be increased to 37. During the past year, the Northern Ontario Public Health Service began a program of preventive health services to unorganized municipalities which cannot receive public health service through existing health units. A pilot service has been in operation since last August to determine the needs of such areas and how these needs may best be met. This program will be expanded, and it is hoped that additional centres may be opened for such service during the coming year. To assist areas in Ontario receiving little or no medical and dental care, the Government has adopted a bursary plan for medical and dental students. Bursaries of $1,000 per year are awarded to medical and dental students who agree to serve in those areas where the need is greatest. 
We are keenly aware of our responsibilities in the field of public health and are ready to assist whenever the need arises. Our actions with respect to babies deformed as a result of the drug thalidomide is a case in point. Our officials investigated as soon as the situation was revealed and they will continue to maintain a close liaison with the physicians in charge of the infants so deformed in Ontario. These children will have full opportunity to receive the necessary surgical and rehabilitation care. The costs of such care not covered by our Hospital Insurance Plan will be assumed by joint subsidy from the Provincial and Federal Governments. 
Great success has been achieved in preventing deaths from tuberculosis, the death rate having fallen to 2.2 per 100,000 population, or 137 deaths in 1961, the lowest in the history of the Province. Since increasing numbers of patients are being given a good deal of their treatment outside of sanatoria, the Department of Health proposes to provide organized follow-up care. By such means, we hope ultimately to control possible return of infectivity. 
Particular attention is being focused on our rehabilitation program for patients in sanatoria and Ontario hospitals. This program is being tied in closely with community resources and facilities, thus bringing knowledge and understanding, particularly of mental illness, to the public. Eight district offices are in operation, and rehabilitation councils are being organized throughout the Province. So far, emphasis in our program has been upon returning to gainful employment as many patients as possible. Social rehabilitation is all that is possible in many cases, and our efforts in this direction are being expanded. Visual return on our investment here is not always evident, but it is nonetheless worthwhile and justifies any expenditure made. By it, patients are restored to some degree of activity in a normal environment as quickly as possible, and the transfer from the sheltered atmosphere of a hospital to the outside world made much less difficult. 
We are expanding and improving our facilities for the care and treatment of the mentally ill. The new Ontario hospitals, mentioned last year for Goderich and Owen Sound, have now become a reality. Work will begin this yea!" on the new Psychiatric Institute in Toronto. Large renovation programs are being planned for the Ontario hospitals at 999 Queen Street, West, Toronto, and at London. The establishment of a new unit to the mental hospital in Penetanguishene is in the planning stages. Three hospitals for the mentally ill are planned for Northern Ontario so that the present hospital at North Bay may be used for children. These hospitals will be at Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury. At least one of these is expected to be a community psychiatric hospital, on the plan established in Ottawa where, by agreement with the Department of Health, the Board of the Royal Ottawa Sanatorium has undertaken to utilize some of its surplus accommodation for the care of the mentally ill, on an in-patient as well as out-patient basis. Negotiations are now under way to provide a similar type. of facility for Windsor. With the setting up of these local units, great progress will be made in our plan to encourage the development of community psychiatric services so that people seeking treatment and advice may do so in a familiar environment. 
At the 1961 Session of the Legislature, the Ontario Mental Health Foundation was established by Provincial statute for the purpose of promoting research relating to the care and treatment of mental illness. The Foundation has now been set up, and its members are representatives of universities, business, labour and voluntary agencies, with the chairman a distinguished justice of the Court of Appeal. The Foundation will assume responsibility for screening all applications for assistance in the field of mental health research. Provision is now made for such projects under the Federal-Provincial health scheme, and $200,000 has been included in our supplementary estimates for 1962-63 to assist the Foundation in carrying out its program in mental health research. 
In the coming fiscal year, the Province's estimated expenditure for mental health purposes will total $58.9 million, an increase of $4.9 million over the current fiscal year. 
Our Hospital Care Insurance Plan, which has been in operation for four years, has continued to prove its value and service to the citizens of the Province. Improvements have been made in the administrative procedures, and the plan has been extended to cover certain hospital services on an out-patient basis to persons who would otherwise require an in-patient admission. Despite the mounting rise in hospital costs, premiums were stabilized in 1961 and have continued to remain at $2.10 monthly for a single person and $4.20 monthly for the family unit. Included in the Budget for 1963-64 is an appropriation of $40.8 million from the general revenue of the Province to subsidize those costs of the plan not met by premium subscription. This will bring the Government's total contribution in the three-year period to $148.3 million. 
The introduction of the Plan gave impetus to an unprecedented expansion in hospital facilities, and during 1962 some 26 major hospital construction projects were completed. These comprised one entirely new hospital, three replacements of old existing buildings, 20 additions to existing buildings and two residences for staff. I t is expected that the peak of new development will be reached during 1963 and that some levelling-off may subsequently take place. 
As has been the practice in past Budgets, we are including in the supplementary estimates an amount of $3.4 million to assist public hospitals with the retirement of debt and for other capital purposes. This amount includes a grant of $75 per bed to all qualified public hospitals in the Province. 
Welfare 
Ever mindful of its responsibilities to those who are unable to provide for themselves for various reasons, the Government has constantly expanded and extended its public welfare services. In the current fiscal year, our expenditures for public welfare are estimated at $58.0 million. For the coming fiscal year, you will be asked to approve an expenditure of $61.8 million. 
The past year saw substantial progress in the field of public welfare. 
Increases in maintenance allowances were made available to citizens who qualified for assistance under various programs, the most notable being the increases from $55 to $65 monthly on behalf of recipients of old age assistance, blind and disabled persons' allowances. The adoptions of children in the care of children's aid societies were continued at a high level with over 5,000 under-privileged children being placed in permanent adoption homes with parents of their own. There was also a large increase in the population within homes for the aged as a result of the continuing program of expansion to provide new modern accommodation. During the year, six new public homes for the aged were constructed and additions were made to seven existing homes. Charitable organizations were assisted in the erection of four new homes for the aged and an addition to an existing home. In all, 2,250 new beds were made available for elderly persons. 
In the programs for the coming year, efforts will be concentrated on increasing and improving the facilities for the institutional care of children. Under new legislation, private charitable organizations will receive greater assistance in operating and maintaining accommodation for the specialized group care and treatment of children who, for many reasons, are unable to benefit from a normal family relationship. 
We are also entering a new field of endeavour in relation to mentally retarded children. A new Act has been designed to enable the Province to share the costs of the residential accommodation of trainable retarded children who may attend the day-school classes conducted by the local associations for retarded children. In this way, a greater number of retarded children will be able to derive the benefits of the educational program that has been developed to meet their needs. At the same time, they will be assisted in their development through the process of group care. 
The Province now has in effect a broad range of public welfare services. It is our continuing objective to ensure that these programs are meeting the needs and requirements of the less fortunate members of our society. To this end, we are constantly engaged in studies and research which are leading to refinements and improvements in existing programs and the development of new measures and approaches. 
HIGHWAYS AND ROADS 
The Government has continually extended and improved its highway and road system to keep abreast of the Province's expanding economy. Substantial additions and improvements to our transportation system have been required to facilitate the expansion of trade and commerce, to open up new areas for development, and to meet the demands imposed by the sharp increase in motor vehicle registrations, which have grown from 663,000 in 1945 to 2,171,000 in 1962. The magnitude of the program in which we have been engaged is clearly indicated in the Province's total expenditures on highways and roads, which have risen from $22.9 million in 1945-46 to $103.0 million in 1951-52 and to $255.5 million in 1962-63. 
During the fiscal year 1962-63, the volume of highway and road construction continued at a high level. In all, 385 miles of paved highway and 76 structures were completed, including the paving of some 84 miles and the erection of five structures as part of the reconstruction program to bring existing sections of the Trans-Canada Highway up to standard. On Highway 401, two new sections were opened, bringing the total mileage now in use to 404 miles, and work was commenced on the widening of a section of the Toronto By-pass and the construction of eight service areas between London and Belleville. Widening operations were continued on the Queen Elizabeth Way with the result that this highway now has six lanes from Toronto's western limits to the Mississauga Road. Good progress has been made in the Hamilton area on Highway 403, which will run from the Queen Elizabeth Way to Highway 401 near Woodstock. Highway 405 from the Queen Elizabeth Way to the new international bridge at Queenston is well advanced and is scheduled for completion in the autumn of 1963. On Ontario's second skyway, the $20 million structure at Homer, steel work has been completed, and the bridge will be opened later this year. Stage three of the Ottawa Queensway is also scheduled for opening later this year. 
An extensive road program, including reconstruction work on a number of sections of existing highways, was carried out in the northern areas of the Province. Marked progress was made on the $6 million Rainy Lake Causeway, as well as on the remainder of this road link between Fort Frances and Atikokan, with over 46 miles of construction completed or in progress by the end of 1962. The year saw the completion of a new 44-mile secondary highway from Trans-Canada Highway 69 near Burwash to Killarney on Georgian Bay and a 61-mile extension of Highway 101 from Foleyet to Chapleau. Good progress was made on the Savant Lake Road, and by the fall of 1962 travel was possible over this road and connecting private roads between the mining area of Pickle Crow and the Trans-Canada Highway near Ignace. On the Spruce River Road, from Port Arthur to Cheeseman Lake, a 54-mile section was opened last summer with construction under way on an additional 20 miles. This year a new type of road, namely an industrial road, was added to Ontario's highway network; the first of these roads, from Manitouwadge to Caramat, a distance of 55 miles, was opened in October for public travel. 
In the current fiscal year 1962-63, the Province's total expenditures on highways and roads are estimated at $255.5 million, consisting of $78.9 million for maintenance and $176.6 million for construction and other capital projects. Provincial road subsidies to municipalities and unincorporated townships in Northern Ontario, which are included in the foregoing, total $79.2 million, of which $30.1 million is for maintenance and $49.1 million for capital purposes. If we add to the Government's expenditures the amounts spent by municipalities from their own sources of revenue, the combined Provincial and municipal outlay for highways and roads totals approximately $335 million this year. This is about $190 million more than the combined amount spent only eight years ago. 
This Budget provides for the further extension and improvement of our highway and road system. It provides for additional work on Highway 403 in Hamilton and a start on the Brantford By-pass. The first six-mile section of this highway at the east end, from the Freeman's interchange westerly to Longwood Road, north of the Main Street interchange, is expected to be completed and open to traffic by the end of 1963. The reconstruction of Highway 401 through Metropolitan Toronto will be carried on, and the construction of other parts of Highway 401 will be accelerated in order to have this major freeway from Windsor to the Quebec border completed by the end of 1963. Work will be continued as scheduled on the Trans-Canada Highway, the Ottawa Queensway, the new controlled access route to the Toronto International Airport, Highway 11 between Fort Frances and Atikokan, and Highway 101 from Chapleau to Wawa. New projects will be started on other King's Highways for the improvement of highway alignment and driving surface. A crash program to eliminate limited load capacity bridges will be continued in addition to the regular program of reconstruction of bridges now substandard as to width or structural specifications. 
In the coming fiscal year 1963-64, the appropriations for our highway and road program total $275.0 million, or $19.5 million more than the interim estimate of expenditures for the current fiscal year. Of this total, $82.5 million will be for maintenance and $192.5 million for capital purposes. Included in the foregoing are road subsidies to the municipalities and unincorporated townships in Northern Ontario amounting to $87.3 million, of which $34.0 million will be for maintenance and $53.3 million for capital programs. This will provide for a combined Provincial and municipal program for the coming fiscal year of approximately $363 million, an increase of about $28 million over the combined total in 1962-63. 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE EXPANSION 
Through the Department of Economics and Development, we have been engaged since April 1, 1962 in an energetic and many-sided program to stimulate economic growth and development in Ontario. The plan, which was introduced as a 20-point Ontario development program, headed by the establishment of the Ontario Economic Council, has been implemented in all its essentials. In the coming fiscal year, it is our intention to consolidate, expand and perfect these activities which, in conjunction with other programs of the Government, will help to secure a brighter economic future for our people. 
Foremost in the development program is the Ontario Trade Crusade. Since September, 1962 the Department has sponsored groups of Ontario businessmen on sales missions to Europe and the United States. To date, some 70 manufacturing companies across the Province have taken part in this plan and have brought back to Ontario orders in the magnitude of millions of dollars. The success of these missions has been most gratifying, and further missions are already scheduled for New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Mexico as well as the United Kingdom and Europe. 
We are also sponsoring a program of mutual manufacturing agencies designed to bring together manufacturers of related but non-competitive products. This program permits small and medium-sized manufacturers which have never sold in the export market to participate in Ontario's trade expansion program. Several actual trading groups have been formed, and some 500 Ontario manufacturers have indicated their interest. Initial orders of hundreds of thousands of dollars are coming into Ontario firms as a result of this specific program. 
The Ontario offices that we have established abroad arc an integral part of our Trade Crusade program. Competent people have been added to the staff in New York, Chicago and London, England, to help in the sale of Ontario products and to work for commercial opportunities which can benefit this Province. Extensive renovations and enlargements are being carried out at Ontario House. The new Provincial office in Dusseldorf, \Vest Germany, has an effective operation going. The Milan, Italy, office also provides excellent contacts. These offices are making an important contribution in selling this Province and its produce abroad. 
Ontario's first Manufacturing Opportunities Show was held in Toronto last November, and the result was a resounding success. Thousands of imported components were displayed, and more than 4,000 potential Ontario suppliers attended. Several million dollars worth of new business was obtained for Ontario manufacturers, replacing imported components. The success of the Toronto show led to the preparation of plans for the holding of further shows at London, Cornwall and Xorth Bay. 
The Department of Economics and Development is actively dealing with over 200 foreign companies seeking licensing arrangements with Ontario companies to manufacture their products. A number of manufacturing arrangements have already been finalized which are expected to generate 1,500 new jobs and $15 million in new business. Contact has also been made with 800 foreign companies for the purpose of encouraging them to set up branch offices in Ontario. Since last April, 51 foreign companies and 43 Canadian firms have established in Ontario and will be utilizing over one million square feet of plant capacity, resulting in $7 million worth of business to the construction industry alone. 
To accelerate the Trade Crusade program at the consumer level, a Consumer Service Section has been established to act as liaison between the Department and the women's organizations of the Province. In December, a meeting with the women's organizations was held in Toronto, and later this month the first Conference of Women of Ontario will be held. 
Another measure designed to stimulate economic development and provide growing employment opportunities for our people is the establishment of an Ontario Development Agency. Legislation to this end has already been enacted to enable the Province to provide financial, managerial, technical and other forms of assistance to those enterprises and communities located in Ontario which can qualify for such assistance and can demonstrate an ability to contribute significantly towards Ontario's economic growth. Under this program, the Government will guarantee loans up to a total of $100 million. This limit will be raised if such a measure proves to be necessary. 
In addition to the further expansion and extension of the specific activities I have mentioned, the plans for the coming year include a number of new programs. Several important conferences and study groups of manufacturers and labour will be undertaken to encourage standardization of parts used by manufacturers in Ontario. Under the sponsorship of the Departments of Economics and Development, Education and Labour, a conference will be held in the spring on automation and social change. Greater attention should be given to new products and new techniques in our economy, and with this objective in mind, we will hold a products and techniques show to promote the new products and advanced techniques which have been developed and are available in Ontario. 
The Department of Economics and Development will introduce a small-business management training program in conjunction with the Department of Education and with the assistance of the Federal Department of Trade and Commerce. The objective of this program 'will be to provide a series of courses which will cover all basic aspects of business operations. It is scheduled to begin September, 1963 and will be made available to owners or managers of small businesses throughout Ontario. 
Legislation will be introduced to encourage the establishment of community development corporations. These corporations will raise funds and finance their operations on a regional and community basis to assist with local or regional industrial development. The community development corporations will be supported by the Ontario Development Agency in cases where the proposed regional or community projects can qualify for such assistance. 
NATURAL RESOURCES 
In order to carry out our important responsibilities in the protection and development of the Province's great agricultural, mineral and forest resources, you will be asked to approve ordinary and capital appropriations totalling $60.5 million for the fiscal year 1963-64 for the Departments of Agriculture, Mines and Lands and Forests. This involves an increase of $8.7 million over the combined expenditure estimated for the current fiscal year. 
In all of these areas, the past year has been one of substantial progress in the effective management and use of our resources. A number of extensions and improvements in our programs relating to the natural resource field are planned for the coming year. In this way, we are actively assisting and supporting the valuable industries which are based upon these resources and which are of fundamental importance to our economy and the continued well-being of our people, particularly those living in rural areas or in the northern parts of the Province. 
Agriculture 
In 1962, Ontario's agricultural production reached the highest level ever attained in our history. A preliminary estimate places the gross production at almost $1.3 billion, or about 3 per cent above the previous high recorded in 1961. Output of most products held up and prices remained firm over the year. 
In recognition of the continuing challenges of farming today, provision is being made for increased help and assistance to the farm community through the Department of Agriculture. While the activities of the Department have been directed to the advancement of all facets of farm operation, the development of modern techniques and increased mechanization have brought about a widening and acceleration of its programs in the field" of research, marketing and farm business management. 
The Ontario Agricultural Research Institute has proven to be of major importance in strengthening our research facilities. The Institute co-ordinates and directs all research conducted by the schools and colleges of the Department, as well as relating the work of the Department with that being done by various industries related to agriculture and the Research Division of the Federal Department of Agriculture. In this way, we are better equipped to take advantage of the improved methods, advanced techniques and new opportunities available to us through research. 
During the past year, a fact-finding committee was appointed to make a study of the problem of vertical integration. One of the suggestions advanced by the committee at the conclusion of its first series of hearings and discussions was the formation of an Ontario Food Council, to be composed of representatives of producers, processors and consumers. The organization of the Council is to be proceeded with this year. Its objectives will be twofold: firstly, to advise the Government on general programs of concern to agriculture, the food industry and the consumer; and secondly, to provide a common meeting place enabling the groups represented to realize a greater understanding of each other's problems. 
Legislation has been passed at this Session to facilitate in Ontario the application of the Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act passed by the Federal Government. A special branch of the Department has been set up to apply desirable provisions of the legislation within the Province. Programs under consideration for implementation include the establishment of community pastures, the expansion of Crown-managed forest lands in areas uneconomic for agriculture, the utilization of unproductive agricultural lands in Southern Ontario for recreational purposes, and rural development studies to determine land capability and new economic opportunities. 
During the present Session, legislation has also been passed to provide for the inspection and control of meat intended for human consumption and of the plants where such animals are slaughtered. The Ontario Act contemplates that the system now used under the Canada Meat Inspection Act will be applied in Ontario, and an agreement will be entered into between the Governments of Ontario and Canada for this purpose. 
The House has also been advised of the Government's intention to reinstate The Junior Farmer Establishment Loans Act. The scope and effectiveness of the legislation will be greatly increased, and consideration will be given to other credit problems associated with the farm. 
To carry out the extended program of the Department of Agriculture, we are providing for the fiscal year 1963-64 a total appropriation of $18.9 million. This is $1.6 million more than the expenditure estimated for the current fiscal year. 
Mining 
The mining industry continues to be one of the key factors in Ontario's economy, surpassed only by agriculture in dollar importance among the natural resource industries. While the attention of the mining community has been drawn recently to a number of developments outside the Province, we have been able to maintain substantial interest and activity in Ontario mining areas. During the past year, two new mines commenced production, and substantial development took place at many mining centres in the Province, particularly in the Kirkland Lake, Timmins and Manitouwadge areas. Exploration and development work is proceeding at several other points throughout the Province. 
Through its various programs, the Government is playing an important role in encouraging and facilitating new mining exploration and development. We are determined to ensure that the great mining potential of this Province is developed to the best advantage. 
Our plans for the coming fiscal year include a further enlargement of the staff of the Geological Branch to speed up the geological mapping of the Province and improve the services which this branch is providing to the Ontario mining industry. The increase in staff will enable us to have 20 geological units in the field compared with 17 in 1962 and 15 in 1961. The Federal-Provincial aeromagnetic survey is being continued, and it is expected that in 1963 an additional 35,000 square miles will be covered, bringing the total so far to 165,000 square miles. 
Through the Ontario Research Foundation, we are undertaking two research projects of importance to the mining industry. The first is a project to perfect a jet smelting process for iron ore in which natural gas will be used as the fuel. This project opens up exciting prospects for Ontario's iron industry. The replacement of imported coal with natural gas would have a beneficial effect on our foreign exchange position. The other project is concerned with the development of improved methods of ore dressing. 
Our mining roads and roads to resources programs are of great importance to the development of Northern Ontario and its vast resources. Since 1951, we have built or have under construction 1,050 miles of roads, either alone or in co-operation with the Federal Government. Sixty-one mining access roads have been constructed, three roads to resources have been completed and three are in various stages of construction. 
For the coming fiscal year, the total net current and capital expenditures of the Department of Mines are forecast at $3.3 million, or $0.2 million more than the expenditures estimated for the current fiscal year. 
Forestry 
In this Budget we are providing for the continuation and expansion of the wide range of activities carried out by the Department of Lands and Forests. Of these, the management, protection and regeneration of our forest resources are among the most important. These forestry services are fundamental to the well-being of Ontario's forest-based industries, which in turn are an important factor in our ability to earn foreign exchange. 
Approximately 44.2 million seedlings were provided from Provincial nurseries during 1962-63 for Crown land and private planting projects, exclusive of trees planted on Crown lands in co-operation with timber companies and several hundred thousand trees planted for the Department by tender. Further experimental use of helicopters for aerial seeding was carried out. This and aerial spraying provide two alternative uses for helicopters under contract to the Department for forest protection purposes. 
In recent years, substantial strides have been made in the effectiveness of our forest protection services through increased staff, additional facilities, the use of modern equipment, improved training programs, and emphasis on public education and support of our programs. In 1962, our Junior Forest Ranger Program provided instruction and employed the services of 680 boys in 54 camps throughout Northern Ontario, and new and improved training programs for Departmental personnel were introduced. 
There is ample evidence of the success and value of our efforts. While the number of forest fires extinguished this year was 15 per cent above normal, the area burned was only 15 per cent of the average annual burn and was the third lowest on record. 
The past year was marked by a substantial addition to the road mileage which has been provided under our forest access road program. This program is approved under a Federal-Provincial Agreement providing for the equal sharing by Canada and Ontario of the costs and is divided between the Department of Highways and the Department of Lands and Forests for construction purposes. During 1962-63, the Department of Highways has constructed 22.5 miles of class I access roads. The Department of Lands and Forests has constructed 17 miles of access roads, the cost of which will be recovered within five years from increased value of stumpage. The latter Department also has constructed or improved to a higher standard 94 miles of roads required for stand improvement, planting and timber extraction. 
In the coming fiscal year, new research programs will be undertaken to ensure efficiency and improve our varied services, and an expanded reforestation program is planned. Under our forest access roads program, it is proposed that the Department of Highways will construct 12 miles of class I access roads and finish surfacing the 1962 construction. The Department of Lands and Forests proposes to construct 44 miles of access roads on a recoverable basis and 39 miles of roads required for stand improvement. 
For the fiscal year 1963-64, you will be asked to provide $38.4 million to meet the total ordinary and capital expenditures of the Department of Lands and Forests, including $8.3 million for forest protection, $8.4 million for timber management and reforestation, $7.6 million for fish and wildlife, $7.7 million for parks development and lands and $6.4 million for conservation authorities. 
PROVINCIAL PARKS 
In recent years, the demand of our people and of visitors from neighbouring jurisdictions for increased camping and recreational opportunities such as those provided in Provincial parks has been surprisingly heavy. We are therefore making comprehensive plans to expand and improve our parkland and park facilities. Our parks program is an important aspect of our efforts to encourage both summer and winter vacationing in Ontario, which in turn provides a very real stimulus to business throughout Ontario and to tourist operators and allied concerns in particular. 
During 1962, five new Provincial parks came into use, adding 11,833 acres of parkland for the enjoyment of our people and bringing the total acreage actually in use as Provincial parks to over 3.5 million acres. The new parks were Ojibway (6,130 acres) near Sioux Lookout, White Lake (3,980 acres) near White River, Restoule (1,417 acres) west of Powassan, The Chutes (235 acres) near Massey, and Pakwash (71 acres) south of Red Lake. 
Use of the 81 Provincial parks in operation in 1962 showed a spectacular increase over the previous year. The number of visitors rose 26 per cent to 7.8 million, and the number of campers increased 23 per cent to over a million. Attendance at park museums, use of nature trails and attendance at lectures showed a corresponding increase to about half a million people. 
Efforts are being made to provide for greater use of Provincial parks in winter through the provision of winter sports facilities. Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park has been exceptionally successful as a winter sports area, and Darlington Provincial Park near Oshawa and The Pinery near Grand Bend are now being kept open for winter use. A new year-round park is being established in the Killarney area with a proposed extent of approximately 4,000 square miles. In areas where seasonal unemployment is a problem, we are undertaking programs of development and maintenance during the winter months. 
In addition to our Provincial parks system, the Province has responsibility for over a million acres of park reserves and several wilderness areas and has commenced establishment of a representative number of nature reserves across the' Province typical of each climatic region. Through the Ontario-St. Lawrence Development Commission and the Niagara Parks Commission, the Province has been instrumental in developing and maintaining two of the finest parks systems available to tourists anywhere on this continent. 
This year we are beginning a 20-year shoreline and parks acquisition program at an estimated cost of 5200 million. Increasing population and industrialization in Ontario make it imperative for us to commence this program immediately if we are to meet future requirements for parks and recreational facilities. Briefly, this program involves the acquisition of Great Lakes shoreline and other lands to provide for parks, recreational facilities, reforestation of idle lands, public hunting and fishing areas, and orderly commercial developments with multiple-use management being stressed. A new branch of the Department of Lands and Forests will be set up to study the needs and plan the development of acquired lands. 
This year we are also undertaking a survey of the marine resources of the Province in conjunction with the Federal Government. The survey will include safe harbour, breakwater and dock facilities, marking of wilderness anchorages, channel markings, shore parks and launching ramp facilities. The results of this program will be of great value to our tourist industry and should attract more pleasure craft to Ontario. 
The total appropriation for our parks program, including the Ontario-St Lawrence parks system and the acquisition of lands for parks under the shoreline and parks acquisition program, will amount to 88.0 million in the coming fiscal year 1963-64. 
PROVINCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR WATER AND SEWAGE WORKS 
The activities of the Ontario Water Resources Commission continued at an accelerated pace during the 1962-63 fiscal year. This was made possible by the fine co-operation of the municipalities and industry, particularly in respect to disposal of sewage and other wastes. Much was accomplished in the development of water supplies and in the abatement of water pollution. 
The Commission is endeavouring to assist municipalities by providing water supply and sewage works. It does this by technical guidance to the municipalities and industry, and by arranging for financing, engineering, construction and operation of these works, As the Province grows, these works are of increasing importance. Even the very small municipalities are desirous of securing public water works and sewage works. These programs have been of special significance to these communities. 
Since the Commission began operations in 1957, it has been involved in water and sewage construction projects with 170 municipalities, and these works have an estimated cost of more than $100 million. Over 140 projects constructed by the Commission are now in operation. The remainder are ill various stages of development and construction. More project are being added to the list continually. These projects, payment for which is made over a long period of time, are enabling municipalities to take advantage of these essential utilities, thereby providing better living conditions. 
The Commission recognized at its inception the importance of abating water pollution, a condition which is of world-wide significance today. Accordingly, the programs undertaken have been directed to the installation of waste treatment facilities and the control of pollution wherever it may occur. This involves municipalities and industry of all kinds. The progress made in this direction so far is most gratifying. Municipalities and industry have co-operated with the Commission, and the large construction program attests to the advances made. The Commission is not only interested in the construction of these works, but also in conducting surveys to seek out sources of pollution and also to ensure that the treatment works are operated ill an efficient manner, The water resources of the Province are a great natural asset, and it is essential that these be preserved for the beneficial use of the people of the Province. 
The Commission is aided in its program by modern laboratory facilities. 
The laboratory is now making about 140,000 analyses a year in an effort to assist in these surveys and to seek more efficient and more economical methods for water treatment and waste disposal. The different branches of the Commission act jointly in assisting municipalities and industry to solve these many pressing problems. The Commission has a staff of highly trained officials, arid with the facilities provided to them they arc able to make marked contributions to the advancement of water and sewage works. 
Expenditures in 1962-63 to support the many services rendered by the Ontario Water Resources Commission are estimated at $2.3 million for operating expenses and $14.0 million for capital purposes. In the coming fiscal year, we are providing $2.7 million for operating expenses and $17.0 million for capital purposes. 
HOUSING 
Last year the Government, through the Department of Economics and Development, formulated and put into effect a completely new approach to the overall problem of ameliorating the housing needs of low-income families across the Province. Known as the "12-Point Program", it is of all exploratory nature, aimed at determining whether a broader and more flexible program of Governmental assistance ill housing is desirable, 
One of the points was put in to effect immediately. I refer to the "Rent Certificate Plan", whereby privately-owned dwelling units are leased and reallocated on a rent-to-income basis to families who would qualify for normal public housing. During the experimental stage, the Rent Certificate Plan has been applied in Metropolitan Toronto only. In the nine months ending December 31, 1962, a total of 114 units had been leased by the Metropolitan Toronto Housing Authority, and further units are being taken over each week. If, as it appears to do, this method provides a valuable supplement to Federal-Provincial public housing, consideration will he given to extending it to other centres during the next fiscal rear. 
Another facet of the new program is the provision of grants to municipalities and other organizations willing to construct and operate low-rental projects on a non-profit basis. In the City of Toronto a grant of $500,000 will be provided to assist with the Moss Park low-rental project. This grant is being made with the proviso that it be used for the sole purpose of reducing rentals of those families in the project who, because of their financial circumstances, are most in need of such assistance. 
All aspects of the new program are being fully explored, and changes in parts of the program or additions to it will be made as they appear necessary. Those parts of the program which prove their worth will be implemented to the fullest possible extent. 
During the past year, the normal public housing program has been pursued with diligence. A total of 767 units of rental housing were under construction during the year, and the servicing of 722 land assembly lots for sale to potential homeowners was under way. Within the next few months, major projects here in Toronto and across Ontario will leave the drawing hoard stage and begin to take shape. In all, we expect to have under development a minimum of 29 rental housing and land assembly projects during the fiscal year 1963-64. Some of these, for example the $22,000,000 Thistletown project in Etobicoke and the $4,652,000 Borden Farm development on the outskirts of Ottawa, will take a number of years to complete. Planning and negotiations toward the development of further projects will continue apace throughout the Province so that a steady supply of decent, safe and sanitary accommodation will be made available to lower-income families across Ontario. 
The total appropriation for our housing program in the fiscal year 1963-64 will be $5.6 million, of which $4.3 million will be capital expenditure under the Dominion-Provincial Partnership Agreement. 
AID TO MUNICIPALITIES 
No one can fail to be impressed by the staggering amount of financial assistance which is given by the Province each rear to Ontario's municipalities, school boards and other local authorities. During the current fiscal year, our assistance to local authorities totals $469 million. including $34.4 million in supplementary estimates. In other words, the Province is turning over for local purposes about 47 per cent of its net ordinary revenue, as compared with 19 per cent in 1942-43. 
In the coming fiscal year, our municipal aid will rise to $486 million. This vast sum is equivalent to 90 per cent of all the revenue we expect to derive from the retail sales tax and from corporation and personal income taxes. Nor does this reflect the substantial assistance rendered through Provincial agencies such as the Ontario Municipal Improvement Corporation and the Ontario Water Resources Commission. 
Obviously, this huge amount of municipal aid is of tremendous benefit to Ontario's municipalities. It enables them to provide for tremendous expansion and improvement in municipal services throughout Ontario and, at the same time, to keep local tax rates at manageable levels. 
Our legislative grants to elementary and secondary school boards have been increased 26-fold since 1943-44. They are estimated at $219.9 million in the current fiscal rear, including supplementary estimates of $18.5 million, and arc forecast at $233.3 million in the coming fiscal year. These amounts include the special per pupil grants payable under The Residential and Farm School Tax Assistance Grant Act, amounting to $16.7 million in 1962-63 and $30.3 million in 1963-64. We are also planning a substantial increase in our assistance to higher education. Grants to universities are expected to amount to approximately $70.0 million in the fiscal year 1963-64. 
Our subsidies for the maintenance and construction of roads in municipalities and unincorporated townships in Northern Ontario have been expanded eleven fold from $7.3 million in 1945-46 to $79.2 million in the current fiscal year. It is planned to increase these subsidies by a further $8.1 million to $87.3 million for the coming fiscal year. In addition to the substantial increase in municipal road subsidies, the Province has assumed responsibility for many miles of roads formerly under municipal jurisdiction and has constructed many access roads, by-passes and costly road interchanges directly benefitting urban municipalities. 
The benefits accruing to our municipalities from a variety of Provincial grants programs in the health and welfare fields are also very important. Under the Ontario Hospital Care Assurance Plan, the Province has assumed the cost of hospital deficits previously paid by the municipalities as well as the cost of hospitalization for all Provincial welfare cases. Municipalities also receive compensation in a general way under The Municipal Unconditional Grants Act for their costs in connection with hospital indigency cases. We are also providing substantial payments in connection with hospitals. 
In addition to the aid provided ill the fundamentally important fields of education, roads, health and welfare, our municipal assistance program includes a number of other grants and payments arising out of special municipal circumstances and needs. Among the most important of these are the unconditional grants program and the municipal winter works program. Payments under The Unconditional Municipal Grants Act are expected to rise to $26.9 million in 1963-64. A net amount of $2.8 million will be required in the coming fiscal year for the municipal winter works program, and you will also be asked to provide funds for a number of other municipal aid programs, including $6.4 million for conservation, drainage aid and flood control and $5.8 million for payments to mining municipalities. 
REVENUE CONSIDERATIONS 
I am confident the Honourable Members will agree that it would be impossible for the Province to carry out its responsibilities without the revenue that is being derived from the retail sales tax. 
In the fiscal year 1960-61, our net ordinary expenditure for education amounted to $226.5 million. In the coming fiscal year of 1963-64, we estimate our net ordinary expenditure on education to be $387.5 million. Therefore, in that three-year period our expenditures in respect of education alone have increased by $161 million. 
In the coming fiscal year of 1963-6-1, we estimate the collections under The Retail Sales Tax Act to be $180 million. After allowing the sum sufficient to stabilize hospital insurance premiums, it is clear that the rest of this revenue is less than the increase in the Province's expenditure on education in just three years. It is even more clear that the trend in our expenditures on education will continue to emphasize the need of the retail sales tax and the use being made of the revenues from it. Indeed, I suggest that we should refer to this tax as an educational tax rather than a retail sales tax. 
In the individual income tax field we have not, as certain other provinces have, imposed a rate of taxation in excess of the Federal withdrawal from the field. Under the new Federal-Provincial fiscal arrangements that came into effect last April 1st, our share of the individual income tax field has been increased from approximately 14 per cent of Federal gross rates of tax to 16 per cent in 1962 and by one additional point in each of the four succeeding years up to 20 per cent in 1966. 
TAXATION 
I am pleased to announce that there will be no new taxes this year. On the other hand, substantial relief will be provided for dependents under amendments which will be proposed to The Succession Duty Act. Legislation will be introduced to provide tax incentives under The Corporations Tax Act. It is also proposed to amend this latter Act to provide a new basis on which logging taxes payable under The Logging Tax Act will be allowed as tax credits. Minor adjustments to The Retail Sales Tax Act, mainly of an administrative nature, will be introduced. 
The Succession Duty Act 
Amendments to The Succession Duty Act will be submitted to provide a clear exemption of $60,000 in the case of widows and of $10,000 for each dependent child. 
Legislation will be introduced to permit an alternative date for valuation of listed securities, instead of confining such valuation to the date of death. 
It is proposed to insert a notch provision in this Act to ensure that, where property valued in excess of the exemption limits passes to persons in the collateral line or to strangers, the benefit received after payment of the tax will not be less than the amount of the exemption plus one-half of the excess. 
The exemption in respect of property passing to strangers will be raised from $5,000 to $10,000. 
The Corporations Tax Ad 
Legislation to be presented concerning this statute will primarily consist of four tax incentive measures. 
Two of these arise because of our desire to co-operate by providing in our legislation for changes that have recently been made in the Income Tax Act of Canada affecting the definition of taxable income of corporations. The first of these is an allowance as an expense deduction from income of 150 per cent, instead of 100 per cent, of the increased expenditure on scientific research made by a corporation, while the second is an extension of the deduction allowed for the drilling, exploration, prospecting and development expenses of corporations engaged in the production, refining or marketing of petroleum or natural gas or in mining or in exploring for minerals. 
In addition, the legislation will provide for two further incentives which are designed to stimulate companies engaged ill manufacturing in Ontario through the granting of tax credits. These tax credits will be related firstly to increased employment and secondly to increased production facilities. 
The Retail Sales Tax Act 
Certain adjustments to the Rules and Regulations under The Retail Sales Tax Act will be made so that the remuneration allowed to most vendors with monthly tax collections of less than $500 will be increased. 
As an additional aid to vendors and to facilitate small transactions, legislation will be introduced to raise the exemption from tax so that vendors will be relieved of collecting tax on single transactions of less than 21 cents instead of 17 cents as at present. This change comes into effect now.
It is also proposed to extend certain exemptions in order to remove small anomalies concerning purchases for agricultural and educational purposes. 
The Logging Tax Ad 
The rate of tax on logging income will be increased to 10 per cent from 9 per cent, but under The Corporations Tax Act the companies concerned will be granted a tax credit equal to one-third of the new 10 per cent logging tax. 
CONCLUSION 
Mr. Speaker, I have endeavoured to place before you an account of our financial affairs for the current fiscal year and to present a comprehensive and unified program to meet the requirements of our Province and our people in the coming fiscal year. During the past year, the buoyancy of the economy has enabled us to carry out a greatly expanded program and still maintain a strong financial position. This bright conclusion to the fiscal year 1962-63 is due in large part to prudent management and the foresight shown in past Budgets in undertaking measures designed to foster economic growth and expansion. While we can take great satisfaction from past achievements, the plan I have outlined for the coming fiscal year demonstrates that we are determined to adapt and improve our policies and programs, and to undertake new measures, as required by changing conditions and circumstances. 
Education continues to present us with our greatest challenge. The demand for new educational facilities which we are experiencing is indicative of the enormous growth we can expect in enrolment within the next few years, particularly at institutions of higher learning. We are required not only to provide for greatly increased enrolment but to adapt our educational system to meet the new needs of our highly specialized and industrialized society. In proposing sharply increased expenditures for education we are taking aggressive action in fulfilling our responsibility to the young people of this Province. These expenditures will not only assist in providing the necessary facilities to accommodate our growing school population but will pay rich dividends in the future in terms of a well-educated population and a highly skilled labour force. 
Many of the expenditure programs proposed in this Budget will exert a number of positive effects upon our economy. Our expenditures to promote trade and industrial development will not only stimulate employment and make better use of our present productive capacity but will have a continuing benefit by encouraging the expansion of existing industries and the establishment of new ones. Our highways and roads program will meet the demands imposed by increased motor vehicle registrations and improve the efficiency of Ontario's existing transportation system; it will also open up new areas of the Province, providing new opportunities, particularly in Northern Ontario. The vast sums of money which this Budget proposes for municipal and school purposes will provide very substantial benefits for local ratepayers and at the same time will assist in the provision of the facilities required for future growth at the local level. 
In formulating our plans for the coming year, we have been deeply conscious of the continuing need for economy. We must exercise the greatest possible vigilance over our controllable expenditures if we are to preserve our capacity to make the most of our opportunities. By careful planning, we have been able to provide for a record-breaking expenditure and at the same time to introduce a number of tax reductions and tax incentive measures. 
In fact, this Budget is a comprehensive plan, designed with painstaking care, to ensure that the needs and requirements of our people will be met in 1963-64. At the same time, it is a plan to strengthen the foundations upon which future economic growth and higher living standards will be based. I am sure the Honourable Members will agree that it provides a vigorous and dynamic plan of action by which we can participate to the fullest extent of our ability in the challenging task of providing a better way of life for our people. 
SUMMARY 
1. This Budget-the earliest since the fiscal year was changed in 1935- reflects the Province's strong financial position. Increased revenue from economic growth has enabled the Province to end 1962-63 with a smaller increase in net debt than in 1961-62 and to proceed with a greatly expanded program in 1963-64. 
2. In view of the problem of financing municipal and school board current expenditures, especially in the earlier part of the calendar year, the Province will increase the number of instalments of certain Provincial grants and make advances earlier in the year. The changes for 1963 apply to the general legislative grants to school boards, the payments by the Province for the cost of education of non-resident pupils, and municipal road subsidies for maintenance and capital purposes. 
3. Supplementary Estimates for 1962-63 total 835,837,000 as follows: 
(a) $20.0 million to provide for advances this month on the 1963 general legislative grants equal to approximately 10 per cent of the 1962 net grant and on the payments respecting the cost of education of non-resident pupils of approximately 45 per cent of the estimated cost for 1963; 
(b) An additional $10.0 million to construct and equip vocational units for school boards; 
(c) $3.4 million for special grants to public hospitals; 
(d) $1.0 million each for the Teachers' Superannuation Fund and the Public 
Service Superannuation Fund; 
(e) $200,000 for the Ontario Mental Health Foundation; (f) $150,000 for the Ontario Heart Foundation; and 
(g) $87,000 for other special grants and payments. (p. 8) 
4. In 1962-63 net ordinary expenditure, including $35.8 million in supplementary estimates and $39.0 million for sinking fund but excluding $70.0 million for capital payments financed out of ordinary revenue, is estimated at $915.3 million. Net capital expenditure on physical assets amounts to $214.8 million, resulting in combined net ordinary and capital expenditures of $1,130.1 million. 
s. Net ordinary revenue and net capital receipts for 1962-63 are estimated at $987.7 million, of which $2.4 million represents net capital receipts. 
6. The interim surplus on ordinary account is estimated at $30,000, after providing $70.0 million for capital payments financed out of ordinary revenue and $39.0 million for sinking fund. After taking into account net capital expenditure of $214.8 million and net capital receipts of $2.4 million, the shortfall of revenue is $103.4 million. 
7. Net capital debt at March 31, 1963 is estimated at $1.3 billion, an increase of $107.3 million over the 1962 figure. Without the $20.0 million to be provided to advance the payment of grants to school boards, the increase in the net capital debt would have been $87.3 million, considerably less than the average increase over the last four years. 
8. Net ordinary expenditure for 1963-64, including $41.5 million for sinking fund but excluding $62.0 million for capital payments to be financed out of ordinary revenue, is forecast at $967.1 million. Net capital expenditure on physical assets will total $238.8 million, resulting in combined net ordinary and net capital expenditures of $1,205.9 million.
9. For 1963-64 the aggregate of net ordinary revenue and net capital receipts is forecast at $1,031.1 million, including $1.6 million in net capital receipts. 
10. Surplus on ordinary account in 1963-64 is forecast at $378,000, after providing $41.5 million for sinking fund and $62.0 million for financing capital payments out of ordinary revenue. After allowing for net capital expenditure of $238.8 million and net capital receipts of S1.6 million, the shortfall of revenue on overall account is forecast at $133.3 million. 
11. In 1962-63, the combined net expenditures of the Departments of Education. 
Health and Public Welfare total $557.5 million, including $34.8 million in supplementary estimates. In 1963-64, they are forecast at $581.9 million, accounting for nearly one-half of the Province's combined net ordinary and capital expenditures.  
12. Provincial grants to elementary and secondary school boards in 1963-64 will amount to $233.3 million. This is an increase of $31.9 million over the 1962-63 level of assistance upon excluding the $18.S million in supplementary estimates for advance payment of grants to be made before the termination of the current fiscal year. 
13. The above school grants include the special grants payable under The Residential and Farm School Tax Assistance Grant Act, In 1963-64, the rate of assistance per pupil of average daily attendance will be increased from SIS for elementary schools and $5 for secondary schools to $20 for elementary and continuation schools, $30 for secondary academic schools and $40 for secondary vocational schools. The total payments under the Act will rise from $16.7 million in 1962-63 to $30.3 million in 1963-64. 
14. By the end of 1962, 217 building projects were completed or in the process of being completed under the Federal-Provincial Technical and Vocational Training Agreement, effective April 1, 1961. Tile Province will have paid to school boards by the end of 1962-63 a total of approximately $170 million, of which 75 per cent will be reimbursed by the Federal government. 
15. The Province and the universities are co-operating in an extensive expansion program to meet the rapid growth in enrolment. The Province's maintenance, capital and special purpose grant to universities, amounting to $45.6 million in 1962-63, will be increased by more than 50 per cent, to approximately $70.0 million in 1963-64. 
16. The total net expenditure for 1963-64 for the Department of Education is forecast at $387.5 million, an increase of $33.7 million over the 1962-63 expenditure. 
17. The net expenditure of the Department of Health in 1963-64 is forecast at $132.6 million, of which $55.9 million will be for the Ontario Hospital Services Commission.  
18. In 1963-64, the Province's estimated expenditure for mental health purposes will amount to $58.9 million, an increase of $4.9 million over the current fiscal year's expenditure. 
19. An appropriation of $40.8 million will be made from the general revenue of the Province to subsidize those costs of the Hospital Care Insurance Plan not met by premium subscription, bringing the Government's total contribution for this purpose in the three-year period 1961-62 to 1963-64 to $148.3 million. 
20. Expenditures for public welfare will be increased from $58.0 million in 1962-63 to $61.8 million in 1963-64. 
21. In 1963-64, the Province's total expenditures on highways and roads will amount to $275.0 million, or $19.5 million more than the interim estimate of expenditures for the current fiscal year. Road subsidies to municipalities and unincorporated townships in Northern Ontario will be increased from $79.2 million to $87.3 million. 
22. The Province is accelerating its Trade Crusade program for the promotion of industrial development and trade expansion. 
23. The newly established Ontario Development Agency will guarantee loans up to $100 million and provide managerial, technical and other forms of assistance to enterprises and communities which can contribute significantly towards Ontario's economic growth. 
24. The combined net ordinary and capital expenditures of the Departments of Agriculture, Mines and Lands and Forests for the protection and development of natural resources will require $60.5 million in 1963-64, an increase of $8.7 million over the current fiscal year. 
25. The Junior Farmer Establishment Loans Act will be reinstated. Its scope and effectiveness will be greatly increased. 
26. This rear the Province will begin a 20-rear shoreline and parks acquisition program at an estimated cost of $200 million. A survey of the marine resources of the Province will also be undertaken in conjunction with the Federal Government. 
27. The total appropriation for our parks program, including the Ontario-St. Lawrence parks system and the acquisition of lands for parks under the shoreline and parks acquisition program, will amount to $8.0 million in the coming fiscal year 1963-64. 
28. The total appropriation for the Province's housing progam in the fiscal year 1963-64 will be $5.6 million, of which $4.3 million will be capital expenditure under the Dominion-Provincial Partnership Agreement.  
29. In 1962-63, the Province's assistance to municipalities, school boards and other local agencies totals $469 million, including $34.4 million in supplementary estimates-an amount equal to 47 per cent of the Province's net ordinary revenue. In 1963-64, this assistance will be increased to $486 million. 
30. In 1963-64, the total collections under The Retail Sales Tax Act are estimated at $180 million. After allowing the sum sufficient to stabilize hospital insurance premiums, the rest of this revenue is less than the increase in the Province's expenditure on education in the last three years. Indeed, this tax should be referred to as an educational tax rather than as a retail sales tax. 
31. Tax changes will be introduced as follows: 
(a) Substantial relief will be provided for dependents under amendments to The Succession Duty Act; 
(b) Tax incentives will be proposed under The Corporations Tax Act; 
(c) The latter Act will be amended to provide a new basis on which logging taxes payable under The Logging Tax Act will be allowed as tax credits; 
(d) Minor adjustments to The Retail Sales Tax Act, mainly of an administrative nature, will be introduced.