Christmas for fiscal wonks

Also: Critic shuffle, more drama in Brampton, education workers vote on possible strike, bivalent boosters

ABOVE THE FOLD

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS — Finance Minister PETER BETHLENFALVY tabled the province’s latest public accounts, the actual spending for fiscal 2021-22 — and it’s chockfull of juicy fiscal nuggets and hints at future policies.

Here’s what you need to know:

— A rosy surplus: Ontario is red-ink-free, reporting a surplus of $2.1 billion thanks to a bullish economy that helped bring in 20 per cent more revenue than expected — and despite projecting a budget-hole of more than $13 billion just a month ago.

Bethlenfalvy explained that, due to pandemic uncertainty, there may have been some low-balling with the numbers, hence the surprise surplus.

— A symbolic pay freeze: MPPs were in line to automatically get an almost $26,000 pay raise for balancing the books, per legislation circa 2009 that would have given them their first pay bump in 14 years. But Bethlenfalvy said he’ll introduce legislation to reaffirm MPPs’ pay freeze, especially in light of the rising cost of livi…