Results tagged “ontariogovernment”

Brilliant bit of news for a beleaguered biz: the Ontario government's giving young love—for fashion design—a chance with a new Youth Entrepreneurship Partnerships program in cohort with the Toronto Fashion Incubator. The $70,000 grant from the Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services will fund A Passion for Fashion, YES, and TFI's new project for maybe-someday design stars. The project will target youth and high school students in thirteen priority, underprivileged neighbourhoods in Toronto, said YES prez Nancy Schaefer in this morning's announcement. Of the expected one hundred–plus applicants, twenty-five will be chosen for a Dragon's Den–style competition; the winner gets expert mentorship, a monetary prize, and a year's membership and studio space at TFI. "It's such a nurturing place, and even the competition among designers is positive," said designer David Dixon, who "came from meagre beginnings" himself before launching his fashion career with the Incubator. "This is a great opportunity to network, and to work for yourself."

The Hon. Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance, has just wrapped up Ontario's 2009-2010 budget announcement at Queen's Park. Surprising nobody, the theme of his speech was the need to address Ontario's declining economy: Duncan began by saying that "our province is in the middle of a global economic and financial storm... we have seen a serious deterioration in our fiscal position." Ontario's deficit will come in at $14.1 billion in 2009-2010, and a return to balanced budgets is predicted to take several years. To tackle the province's weakened state the Liberals are proposing a stimulus package ($32.5 billion over the next two years for infrastructure projects, predicted to create 300,000 new jobs, and $300 million for green economy initiatives); tax relief ($10.6 billion spread over personal and business tax cuts); assistance measures (social assistance rates will go up by 2%); and a new harmonized federal-provincial value-added tax. So far, commenters are noting that Ontario's budget follows the pattern set by the federal government, perhaps signalling that relations between the two are improving somewhat.