The Provincial Government Budget<\/p>\n
Why should I care about Ontario\u2019s provincial budget?<\/p>\n
Budgets are important planning documents that are used\u00a0by individuals, businesses, organizations and governments\u00a0to ensure responsible financial management, and that\u00a0help outline priorities and achieve long-term goals.<\/p>\n
In the \u2018Minds On\u2019 activity students estimate what\u00a0they believe the breakdown of provincial government\u00a0expenses and revenues should be for the upcoming year.\u00a0Afterwards, students review Budget 2018 highlights\u00a0and examine the government\u2019s breakdown of projected\u00a0expenses and revenue resources. Students consider the\u00a0impact of the budget on them and their families, and the\u00a0aspects they agree and disagree with.<\/p>\n
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:<\/p>\n
CPC3O<\/em>: A1, A2, B1, A1.1, A1.5, A2.2, B1.2, C3.1<\/p>\n DOWNLOAD CURRICULUM LINKS (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n 1. Ask students if they have ever planned in advance how\u00a0they spend their money, or if they have ever needed to\u00a0create a plan to save money for a particular purpose or\u00a0goal (e.g., university\/college, phone, clothes, video games,\u00a0etc.). Introduce the concept of a budget and distinguish\u00a0between expenses and income.<\/p>\n 2. Explain to students that the Minister of Finance\u00a0manages the revenue and expenses for the Ontario\u00a0provincial government. There are seven major spending\u00a0areas (Children and Social Services, Education, Health,\u00a0Justice, Postsecondary and Training Sector, Other\u00a0Programs, Interest on the Debt). Review Handout 15.1<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3. Using Activity 15.2<\/a>, ask students to imagine that they\u00a0are the Minister of Finance and ask them how they would\u00a0spend and collect the approximately $150 billion needed\u00a0to operate the provincial government and deliver public\u00a0services for the coming year. Ask students to estimate the\u00a0expenditures and revenue as a percentage of the total.<\/p>\n 4. Give students time to Turn and Talk with a partner and\u00a0then debrief as a class. Guiding questions:<\/p>\n 1. Using Slide Deck 15A<\/a>, provide an overview of the\u00a0following key budget terms and their relevance at the\u00a0provincial level:<\/p>\n \u2022 Every year the Ontario government must prepare a\u00a0budget for the upcoming year (April 1 to March 31.).\u00a0In order for it to pass (and be implemented), it must\u00a0be approved by more than half of the Members of the\u00a0Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Key terms:<\/p>\n – Revenue: \u2018money in\u2019, money received, money\u00a0earned; 2. Using Slide Deck 15B<\/a>, review the percentage breakdown\u00a0of Government of Ontario\u2019s expenditures in Budget 2018.<\/p>\n Teacher Note: Use Handout 15.3<\/a> to review Ontario’s seven\u00a0budget sectors<\/em><\/p>\n 3. Ask students to compare their own breakdown\u00a0of expenses from the \u2018Minds On\u2019 activity to the\u00a0government\u2019s projections. How does the government 4. Using Slide Deck 15B<\/a>, provide the percentage\u00a0breakdown of the Government of Ontario\u2019s revenue\u00a0sources in Budget 2018.<\/p>\n 5. Ask students to compare their own breakdown of\u00a0revenue sources from the \u2018Minds On\u2019 activity to the\u00a0government\u2019s projections. How does the government\u00a0budget compare to student estimates? How do students\u00a0estimates compare to each other?<\/p>\n Review the announcements associated with the Budget\u00a02018 (video, backgrounder and highlights \u2013\u00a0http:\/\/budget.ontario.ca\/2018<\/a>). Use the following guiding\u00a0questions to have a class discussion:<\/p>\n A) Have students reflect on their views of Budget 2018,\u00a0summarize a personal connection and link to their political\u00a0orientation (Activity 15.3<\/a>).<\/p>\n B) With a provincial election coming this spring, the\u00a0government\u2019s budget \u2013 and how each of the opposition\u00a0parties respond \u2013 can be viewed as a preview of the\u00a0respective party platforms to come during the campaign.\u00a0Using media reports and political party communications,\u00a0ask students to write an analysis of the 2018 provincial\u00a0budget from different perspectives. Where applicable,\u00a0incorporate information about the political spectrum to\u00a0explain the responses or positions of the major political\u00a0parties.<\/p>\n Title The Provincial Government Budget Guiding Question Why should I care about Ontario\u2019s provincial budget? SUMMARY Budgets are important planning documents that are used\u00a0by individuals, businesses, organizations and governments\u00a0to ensure responsible financial management, and that\u00a0help outline priorities and achieve long-term goals. In the \u2018Minds On\u2019 activity students estimate what\u00a0they believe the breakdown of provincial government\u00a0expenses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-secondary-lessons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1156,"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions\/1156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civix.ca\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}MINDS ON<\/h3>\n
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ACTION<\/h3>\n
\n– Expenditures: \u2018money out\u2019, money spent, costs,\u00a0payment for goods or services;
\n– Surplus: excess, when you have more revenues\u00a0than expenses, a positive fiscal balance;
\n– Deficit: deficiency, when you have more expenses\u00a0than revenues, a negative fiscal balance, budget\u00a0shortfall; and
\n– Debt: the amount you have borrowed over time\u00a0and need to repay, an accumulation of months or\u00a0years of a deficit, an amount of borrowings.<\/p>\n\n
\nbudget compare to student estimates? How do student\u00a0estimates compare to each other?<\/p>\nCONSOLIDATION<\/h3>\n
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ASSESSMENT IDEAS<\/h3>\n
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SUPPLEMENTARY TOOLS<\/h3>\n
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