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After almost a decade in the red, the Ontario books are back in black.

And the governing Liberals aren’t booking those savings but investing in expanded social programs, pilot projects, health care and education a year before the next provincial election.

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Finance minister Charles Sousa said now that the books are balanced, the province is “investing in things that matter to us, like health care” as his spends millions on expanded drug coverage and new schools.

PC leader Patrick Brown accused the Liberals of playing a “shell game” to balance the books and suggested the deficit was still close to $5 billion.

“Today’s budget is more proof Ontario families will continue to pay more to get less,” he said.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath said Ontarians will simply “have to wait for a change in government” to see truly universal pharmacare, as the Liberals moved only to cover young people.

This budget, which could be Premier Kathleen Wynne government’s last to implement before an expected election next June, is setting the parties up for an extraordinarily long campaign. But the policies in the 2017 budget will affect lives across the province for years to come, regardless of who wins next year.