No transit taxes or tolls, NDP warns Wynne

Ontario households hard pressed now, says Horwath

Ontario’s New Democrats warned Wednesday they would not support any new tax on consumers to pay for billions of dollars worth of public transit expansion in the Toronto-Hamilton area.

“I don’t want to see new taxes and (road) tolls that are going to hit household budgets hard,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

Premier Kathleen Wynne wants to find new “revenue tools” to fund badly needed upgrades to public transit and other infrastructure projects, but the idea could trigger a contentious debate when the legislature returns Sept. 9.

“I’ve talked about the need for a new revenue stream in the context of the greater Toronto-Hamilton area, and that’s the first front we’re moving on,” Wynne told the Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting in Ottawa Monday.

The minority Liberals need the NDP’s support to stay in power — the Progressive Conservatives vow to defeat the government at the earliest opportunity — but the New Democrats made it clear they don’t like the revenue tools under discussion.

“We acknowledge and recognize and, in fact, believe wholeheartedly that there needs to be significant investment in moving people around in and about the greater Toronto-Hamilton area, as well as other infrastructure needs across the province that need to be addressed,” said Horwath.

“Any successful attempt to do that will require the buyin and the commitment and support of the people of this province, otherwise it will be a fleeting dream.”

Horwath said the NDP want the minority legislature to work, but they also want the government to drop plans for corporate tax breaks and to maintain the extra levy on incomes over $500,000 to help fund the transit upgrades.

“We need to have these projects funded, absolutely, but we need to find a fair way of tackling the challenges that we all face as a province,” she said.

“People are already very hard pressed in terms of their household budget, and so we don’t want to see any particular initiatives that put a bigger burden on them.”

Horwath made her comments as she stood beside two freshly minted New Democrats, Percy Hatfield from Windsor-Tecumseh and Peggy Sattler of London West, who were sworn in Wednesday after winning byelections Aug. 1.

Hatfield said raising taxes across Ontario to fund transit upgrades in the Toronto region wouldn’t go over well in his community.

“Increasing taxes on working families in Windsor, if they’re not going to get a benefit out of it, to see other families in the province make a gain, I’m not sure that’s going to be something we can sell back home,” said Hatfield.

“People expect value for money and if they don’t travel to Toronto or Hamilton on the roads, then why are they going to be taking money out of their pocket to support that?”

The two winners of the Aug. 1 byelections in Toronto — Progressive Conservative Doug Holyday and Liberal Mitzie Hunter — will be sworn in Thursday. Liberal John Fraser in Ottawa South will take the oath of office Friday.