PCs gauge Ontario's budget asks

Also: Cheers and jeers for private health, NDP shed light on key organizer's exit, Elliott's new gig, Smokey in hot water, vehicle checks and much more

ABOVE THE FOLD

The Ford government dropped hot-potato plans to boost private health clinics, MARIT STILES’s transition to the NDP leader’s office is underway, and the Finance Ministry wants to know what you’d like to see in the budget. Let’s dig in.

WHAT ONTARIO WANTS — It’s that time of year again. Pre-budget season is in full swing and the government is currently gauging what citizens and stakeholders want to see in Finance Minister PETER BETHLENFALVY’s fiscal plan (which is due out by March 31, but the PCs have missed their own self-imposed deadline before).

Bethlenfalvy in Durham with his pre-budget consultation crew: MPPs TODD MCCARTHY and PATRICE BARNES, and SCOTT BLODGETT, the veteran Finance Ministry media relations officer who hosts the budget lock-ups. Photo: Twitter

Bethlenfalvy is swinging across the province to hear from stakeholders. The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs is running its own tandem consultation, heading to Windsor and Essex next week. Full t…