In an odd reversal of fortune, on the same day Newfoundland and Labrador announced that it will shed its status as a “have not” province for the first time since it joined Confederation, a TD economic study revealed that Ontario will soon be taking the Atlantic province’s place in the federal bread line.

The TD report, released Tuesday, predicts Ontario will become a have not province and qualify for federal equalization payments by 2011, perhaps even earlier.

Have not provinces are provinces whose fiscal capacity has slipped below the national average. Since Confederation, have not provinces have received equalization payments from the federal government that help bring their fiscal capacities on par with the national average.

Who would have thought that in just a few short years Ontario would go from the economic engine of Canada, driving the nation’s financial prosperity, to the caboose, getting pulled along by the other provinces?

Following the release of the report, TD chief economist Don Drummond said: "Ontario is not the mighty king of the economy anymore... it's one of the weaker partners.”

This is not the Ontario that we know. How many of us have contemplated Ontario as a have not Province, receiving support from other provinces? The Ontario we know has always been the lead, the strongest and most prosperous of Canada, number one in the country in growth and job creation.

Prior to 2003, Ontario’s economy was outperforming both the Canadian and U.S. economies. Wasteful government spending was decreasing and so was the provincial debt.

Since Dalton McGuinty’s government came into office in 2003, the provincial debt has gone up, government spending has nearly doubled, and some 200,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs have been lost. Under Dalton McGuinty, welfare roles are up some 11 per cent, and it now appears the Premier is bound and determined to similarly put Ontario on the welfare roles of Confederation.

Sadly, the families of Stelco workers in Hamilton, and CanGro and Dana Canada in Niagara to name a few, are the ones who are shouldering the load of the government of the day’s tax and spend policies. These employees saw the writing on the wall long before TD released its report.

However, as clear as the warning signs have been that Ontario is headed to becoming a have not province, the solutions to bolster the province’s economy are also quite clear.

The tax and red tape burden on businesses and Ontario families must be reduced to encourage new investment. The government must also control its runaway spending by prioritizing initiatives that will support economic growth, such as major investments in infrastructure like for the Mid-Pen Corridor highway and the extension of GO Transit to Niagara.