Ontario budget preview: What to expect Thursday

When Finance Minister Charles Sousarises in the Ontario legislature to bring down his budget on Thursday, taxpayers, investors and political pundits will all be watching for signals on where Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberal government wants to take the province and its economy.

CBC News spoke to some experts this week to get a sense of not only what they're expecting, but also what they want to hear from Sousa.

• Charles Sousa to post province's 9th straight deficit and that red ink matters

• Ontario budget watchdog leery of Liberal promise to balance books by 2018

• Kathleen Wynne needs a win with Ontario's budget

The good news for cash-strapped taxpayers is the political scientists and economists we spoke to don't expectSousa to raise taxes in the upcoming budget.

"They won't cut or increase taxes," saidGenevive Tellier, associate professor at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa.

Tellier doesn't expect there will be many big surprisesbut shesaidshe'd like to see more specifics on howthe province plans to eliminate the$7.5 billiondeficit.

"It will tell us where the province is economically speaking," Tellier said.

Where will the money come from?

Ian Roberge, the chair of the Department of Political Science at York's Glendon College, wonders where the Wynne government will get the money it needs to get back in the black.

"The expectation on the part of the Liberals has been that the economy is going to pick up, that's going to fuel economic growth, and those increases in revenue aregoing to balance the budget," Roberge said.

"But that economic growth hasn`t been as substantive as (the government) hoped."

Robergetold CBC Newsthere's not much left for the government to cut and if it doesn't raise taxes, he wonders how the Liberals will raise revenue for big-ticket infrastructure projects, such as thebillions of dollars worth of transit improvements the Wynne government has promisedfor the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

The province is expected to benefit from the federal government promise to finance public transit and green projects.

User fees?

Professor James McKellarwiththe Schulich School of Business at York University saidthe province still has to pony up billions of dollars it doesn't have.

"I'm not sure how much it can build with public money," said McKeller.

McKeller saidone reality to consider is user fees, which he saidno one wants to touch politically.

Tellier saidthe fact the province is tabling its budget before the federal government brings down may indicate the Ontario government is confident its economy is rosier than expected.

She saidthe weak Canadian dollar has been good for exports.

"It seems to indicate Ontario could go it alone for a bit longer," says Tellier.

Roberge wants to see the revenues generated from the sale of shares in Hydro One in Thursday's budget.

"They staked their future on a 60 per cent sale of Hydro One. This will follow them to 2018," when voters go back to the polls, Roberge said.