Article content continued

That they’ve got the budget in order is one of the important stories the Liberals will tell about themselves as they try to get re-elected next June. Yes, we’ve borrowed and spent a lot of money. We had to. We had a recession, and we had to make up for years of Mike Harris’s underfunding of important things like health care and schools. We had to build Ontario up. We had to — and still have to — help people in their everyday lives. But now that we’ve built a foundation for prosperity, we’re also able to balance budgets, pay down debt, and be fiscally responsible, Wynne will say.

She’ll need some graphs. The last provincial budget from last spring has them, showing that we’re entering a golden age for the Ontario treasury, with a newly balanced budget and bright outlook. By 2030, Ontario’s provincial debt will be just 27 per cent of its gross domestic product, down from an all-time peak of 39 per cent, the government says.

Sousa and Sandals re-touted their own financial management Thursday afternoon with the annual release of the government’s accounts.

“Thanks to the hard work of the people of Ontario, we are leading Canada in economic growth while investing in programs like free tuition and free pharmacare for children and youth,” Sousa proclaimed.

Just hold it right there, Lysyk responded instantly, in a statement she had ready to let fly.

Lysyk and the ministers have been volleying back and forth for a couple of years now over how to count assets on the government books. Without getting too deep into it, what’s in question is whether certain public-sector pension plans and some holdings in the electricity system belong to the government or not.