FES teaser: Is a tax cut en route?

Plus: Health DM Zahn staffs up, Bill 197 broke the law, and the Premier glad-hands around Ford Nation

ABOVE THE FOLD

Election-goody season may be around the corner for Ontarians — beginning with a potential tax cut in the Fall Economic Statement. FES, as it’s known around the Pink Palace, is a mini-budget that provides an update on the state of Ontario’s fiscal situation.

— FES LITE: It’s due out by November 15 — and a senior government source with behind-the-scenes knowledge confirmed the work has already begun.

That said, we’re smack dab in the middle of a federal election and a change in government would impact the FES, so it may come later rather than sooner, another source intimated. It’s expected to be a lighter document this time around — last year’s was a full-on budget as pandemic uncertainty forced the PCs to tweak fiscal timelines.

— TAX CUT INCOMING: Budget watchdog PETER WELTMAN’s crystal ball suggests there’s a tax cut in the wings. “We think there’s a tax cut coming, and I think you’re going to see that announced in the FES,” Weltman told me.

That’s based “on the way th…