Although there is much speculation about the details of the Doug Ford government's first budget, there is no doubt about its overall theme - spending cuts.

Finance Minister Vic Fedeli seems poised to deliver a "tough-love," "it's-worse-than-anyone-thought," "slash-and-burn" budget on April 11.

The signs are everywhere. Since taking office, the Ford government ended the Ontario Basic Income Pilot and reduced a planned social assistance increase. They decimated support for post-secondary students, and through their class size and tuition policies, slashed the budgets of school boards and colleges and universities. The health sector, meanwhile, has been put on notice that cuts are coming.

Brace yourself, this budget is going to be a doozy.

Are voters ever going to tire of this routine? A government gets elected on a pain-free platform that promises to fund all its promises by eliminating "waste." When cancelling free coffee or getting rid of phone land lines doesn't produce the type of needed savings, the term "waste" starts to get redefined. All of a sudden it involves spending cuts aimed at those who didn't vote for the government: the poor, university and college students, teachers and public servants.

We all know how the story ends. Over time, resentment toward cuts spreads, particularly as it starts to affect government supporters. Ontarians become fed up and elect a progressive government that tries to undo the damage. As the years pass, the new government starts to get a little too generous in spending money they don't have. And it all starts over again.

Are we preordained to be stuck in this loop?

Which brings us to Rae Days. Those of us of a certain vintage remember the NDP government of Bob Rae that governed Ontario from 1990 to 1995. In need of finding significant savings, it attempted to do something radical. Instead of simply slashing and burning, it attempted to negotiate wage concessions from Ontario's public sector workers. The end result was the social contract which saw public sector workers earning more than $30,000 taking 12 unpaid days a year - the so-called Rae Days.

The social contract found about $2 billion in savings, helped maintain thousands of jobs and protected important government services. Politically, however, it was a disaster. Public sector unions fought back and it had to be imposed through legislation, undermining collective bargaining. The Rae government was ridiculed, and Mike Harris became our premier.

In light of what is happening at Queen's Park these days, the idea of a social contract doesn't appear so ridiculous. The idea of a government preserving jobs and services by reaching out to key partners and trying to negotiate a deal rather than engage in draconian cuts has a certain appeal.

Those responsible for the social contract would certainly caution that finding an agreement is easier said than done. Many still harbour bitterness toward union leaders who were unwilling to recognize the seriousness of the situation and put their narrow interests ahead of the common good. They have a point. No one is ever going to welcome a cut. As a former cabinet minister, I can't recall a single stakeholder telling me they could do with less.

When the alternative is mass layoffs and cuts that hurt people, however, there may be some openness, particularly if a government creates a level of trust. There are many examples from the private sector of workers taking unpaid leaves or entering into job-sharing agreements in order to keep their company afloat.

The lessons from the social contract are less about the details and more about the value of finding creative approaches to the allocation of scarce government resources that minimize hardship and disruption. Although "Ford Furloughs" has a nice ring to it, there may be other thoughtful ways to find savings that move us away from deep cuts that seem targeted at those who don't support the government.

As he puts the finishing touches on the upcoming budget, Fedeli may want to keep this in mind. In our post-SNC-Lavalin political environment, where traditional ways of doing politics are losing their lustre, he might find that Ontarians are now more open to a Rae Days approach over a scorched earth policy.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

John Milloy is a former MPP and Ontario Liberal cabinet minister currently serving as the director of the Centre for Public Ethics. Email: jmilloy@luther.wlu.ca. Twitter: @JohnMilloy. A version of this column was originally published in the online publication QP Briefing

Read more about: