Wynne ready to ‘tweak’ budget
But premier ‘not afraid’ to go to polls if NDP rejects spending plan
ALLISTON, ONT.— Premier Kathleen Wynne says she’s willing to “tweak” the Liberals’ budget to win NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s support and avert a June election, but major changes are out.
“She’ll have to decide,” Wynne said of Horwath, laying down ground rules in hopes of preventing the brinksmanship that preceded passage of last spring’s budget under her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty.
“Now is the time for decisiveness,” the premier said Friday.
Wynne said the blueprint unveiled by Finance Minister Charles Sousa on Thursday has “addressed and gone beyond what the NDP was asking for” on home care, auto insurance and other areas.
“There may be some tweaks, there may be small changes,” she told reporters after a speech to a group representing small urban municipalities.
“This is a budget I believe hits the right notes. This budget is not the beginning point of negotiation.”
Referring to Horwath’s plan to reach out to Ontarians in the days ahead to gauge public opinion, Wynne noted the government already consulted 600,000 people when crafting the budget.
“I’m not afraid to go to an election,” she said.
After speaking to the same conference, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, who wants to vote down the government, said this year’s “NDP-Liberal coalition” drama is like the movie Groundhog Day.
“It’s like déjà vu all over again,” joked Hudak.
But Wynne insisted this spring is “quite different” because the Liberals and NDP talked extensively while the budget was prepared to reach “common ground.” “I hope that I can meet with Andrea Horwath in the very near future,” she said. While all three leaders were in Alliston for the Ontario Small Urban Municipalities conference, their paths did not cross. Horwath said she was disappoint- ed to see a lack of guarantees in the budget, such as maximum five-day wait times for home care and 15 per cent off auto insurance rates, but Wynne countered that Liberal targets for reaching those standards are “responsible and prudent.” Earlier, the NDP leader said she plans to talk to Ontarians before sitting down with her Liberal counterpart to announce whether she will allow the government to survive by supporting the budget.
If the NDP joins with the Tories to topple the Liberals, Ontario would be plunged into a June vote that would cost $92 million and come 20 months after the last general election.
Horwath on Friday launched her “consultation” with voters using a toll-free phone line at 1-877-3410244 and online at www.yoursayontario.ca.
“People want to see more accountability in the budget,” she told reporters, adding she wants to spend “a few days” hearing what people have to say about Sousa’s spending plan.