Liberals’ aim at r reducing debt
Party says law will force budget surpluses to go towards Ontario’s debt
The Liberals have promised to introduce legislation forcing any budget surpluses to be directed to pay down the province’s debt if they are elected on June 7.
The pledge is considered the “anchor” of their full platform, which was released Saturday online — and a day before the final leaders’ debate Sunday night.
It’s largely based on the Liberals’ spring budget, which included free child care, more money for hospitals, mentalhealth funding, help for seniors to pay for home maintenance, and some dental benefits.
That now leaves the Progressive Conservatives as the only party without a fully costed platform.
“We will legislate what has been a practice, which is at the end of the year when there has been overachievement on our plan — which we have in the order of about $2.5 billion a year — that we could legislate, so there would be no flexibility on what would happen with that money,” Premier (and Liberal Leader) Kathleen Wynne said Saturday at her sole campaign event, held in the backyard of a home near Gerrard St. a and Coxwell Ave. The money “would go toward reducing the debt,” added Wynne. “It’s a legislative frame- work that actually reflects good f financial management.”
The provincial debt has doubled in the past decade, and now sits at about $325 billion.
The NDP released its platform in mid-April, but has since had to adjust its numbers after a $1.4-billion budget mistake was uncovered.
Liberal candidates have been campaigning on the government’s spring budget, although last week Wynne also announced that the Liberals would help in the creation of “portable “pensions” for work- ers as they move from job to job.
The Liberals are third in the polls, something Wynne addressed Saturday by saying “I’m not under any illusions about that … but I would say that I’ve been in tough places before, we’ve been in tough places be- f fore.
“So what I’m going to do is, I’m going to work to fight our way back.”
Wynne said voters — who in early polls widely supported the PCs — have found Doug Ford “wanting” as leader, add- ing that while they might now be turning to the NDP, voters will find out that party “cannot aand does not have a plan to keep competitive and keep growing” the province.
Under the Liberals, a $6.7-billion deficit is forecasted for 2018-19 to pay for its spending promises. The NDP would run a $4.7-billion deficit in its first year, under a platform that in- cludes free or $12-a-day child care for most families, more money for hospitals, universal pharmacare, as well as dental coverage for those who don’t already have it.
Ford has said a PC government would initially run a deficit, but has not released any specifics. He has pledged money for mental-health supports, vowed to get rid of provincial income tax for low-income earners and promised to scrap the province’s cap-and-trade system, as well as fire the CEO of Hydro One, whom he has dubbed the “six-million-dollar man.”
Meanwhile on Saturday, Ford released a statement saying a PC government would lower the price of beer to $1 a bottle, plus deposit.
Last week, just before the May long weekend, he announced his party supports allowing beer and wine to be sold in convenience and big-box stores, as well as more grocery stores.
“For too long, beer consumers have been forced to pay inflated prices for beer in order to increase the profits of big corporations,” he said in a statement.
The NDP called the move a “distraction” given that the PCs don’t have a platform and have been facing mounting controversies over candidates and improper nominations.