<em>UPDATE: Last week, Kathleen Wynne’s minority Liberal government released details of its budget, which included $25 million over five years to UW’s Institute of Quantum Computing (IQC).</em>
<em>The budget was set to be voted on May 21, but in an unexpected turn of events, leader of the NDP Andrea Horwath announced that her party will not support the minority Liberal government’s budget as reported by CBC News, despite the fact the budget included initiatives the NDP wanted in an attempt to gain their support.</em>
<em>With Tim Hudak and the PC’s opposition and Horwath’s public rejection of the budget, Kathleen Wynne wasted no time in recommending the Lieutenant Governor dissolve the legislature, instead of waiting for the May 21 vote on the budget. Once the Lieutenant Governor accepted her recommendation, Kathleen Wynne officially dissolved the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario, setting up a spring election, to be held on June 12, 2014.</em>
<em>With the dissolution of the legislature, the proposed budget will no longer face debate and will fail with the fall of the provincial government. As a result, Imprint has learned from Tanya Blazina, senior media relations co-ordinator for the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, that with the fall of the minority Liberal government and budget, the proposed $25 million over five years to UW’s IQC will fail, at least for now.</em>
<em>The University of Waterloo and the IQC will need to wait until a new government is elected to the legislature, and see if the new premier and his or her party will revisit this investment in the new budget. </em>
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The Ontario government released its anticipated budget today, which included $25 million over five years to UW’s Institute of Quantum Computing (IQC). The announcement came after the federal government committed $15 million over three years to IQC back in February.
“We are extremely grateful that the Province of Ontario continues to create the conditions for Ontario, and Canada, to lead the world in quantum information research," said university president Feridun Hamdullahpur in a press release.
The province committed a $50 million investment in IQC in 2006. Historically, IQC has also seen over $300 million from the federal government, Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis, and UW, according to the press release.
“The Institute for Quantum Computing, at the University of Waterloo, continues to make significant discoveries in this field, positioning Ontario at the forefront of this exciting technology,” said the budget.
In terms of post-secondary education and recent grads, the budget – titled “Building Opportunity, Securing our Future” ­– included several initiatives already in the works, including $42 million for <a href="https://archive.uwimprint.ca/article/3970-ontario-online-offers-positive-changes-for">Ontario Online</a>, announced in January.
Additionally, the provincial government is in their second year of a $295 million investment for the Ontario Youth Jobs Strategy, aiming to create more employment opportunities for young people. Since beginning last September, the budget claims the initiative has helped over 10,000 young people find jobs. The overall goal of the project is to reach 25,000 jobs for youth.
A goal in the budget regarding students is for the provincial government to expand “alternative methods” of learning by 2025, however plans for how that will be achieved were not directly mentioned.
Additionally the government said their education initiatives outlined will result in 70 per cent post-secondary attainment by 2025.
Read the full budget presented by finance minister, Charles Sousa, <a href="http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2014/papers_all.html">here</a>.
