Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne received the gift of political life on her 60th birthday yesterday.  NDP leader Andrea Horwath has agreed to support the minority Liberals’ budget averting a June election.  Susan Eng is the Vice President of Advocacy for CARP – a New Vision of Aging.  She tells Zoomer Media News, there are certainly some benefits for older Ontarians in this budget, including “an increase in home care funding. And that’s going to help a lot of people look after their loved ones at home.  The 15 percent reduction in insurance rates is of course, welcome, although we would argue that should also end the discriminatory rates that are charged to people over the age of 80.  And of course, we were interested to see that the government is still going to press ahead with enhancing C.P.P., although they didn’t make it a precondition going ahead with the enabling legislation for P.R.P.P.s, the pooled registered pension plans.”

Had a budget deal not been reached, the minority Liberals would have been toppled in a non-confidence vote, triggering an election.  Premier Wynne’s concessions to the New Democrats include a new $2.5 million Financial Accountability Office, modeled on the federal parliamentary budget officer.  P.C. leader Tim Hudak meantime, warned the NDP could pay politically for propping up a “corrupt” Liberal government.