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Two independent provincial watchdogs have determined Ontario’s Liberal government is low-balling its deficit numbers.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk last week issued a pre-election report required under Ontario law that concluded the government understated the costs of its hydro rate cut plan and improperly calculated pension costs for two public sector unions.

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Both issues made the government’s books appear better than they actually are.

The auditor pegged the real deficit number at almost double the government’s estimate — $11.7 billion for 2018-19 instead of the reported $6.7 billion, $12.2 billion in 2019-20 instead of $6.6 billion and $12.5 in 2020-21 instead of $6.5 billion.

Then this week, J. David Wake, Ontario’s financial accountability officer, issued a spring economic and budget outlook that confirmed the Liberals mixed a lot of fudge into their budget recipe.

Wake’s deficit estimates almost exactly match those issued by the auditor.