A Liberal provincial budget in Ontario brimming with proposals put forth by the New Democrats was met with skepticism by NDP leader Andrea Horwath on Thursday, leaving open the possibility of a spring election.
“We don’t see a real commitment from the government. For us, that’s concerning,” Horwath said following the release of the ruling Liberal’s budget plans.
The Liberals announced $900-million worth of initiatives over the next half decade targeted at jobs and healthcare initiatives the NDP either directly tabled or support.
Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne is banking on support from the NDP, whose 18 seats hold the balance of power in the 107-seat legislature, to get the bill passed. The Liberals hold 51 seats, three shy of a majority.
Tim Hudak and the Progressive Conservatives had already said they won’t support the bill, and without the NDP, the government’s budget will fall potentially taking Wynne with it and Ontario to the polls.
“We recognize we’re in a minority situation,” Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said. “This meets the requests the NDP put forward, and we need to work together to get it passed.”
Hudak and his finance critic Peter Shurman slammed the Liberal proposals as a flimsy ploy to buy New Democrat support and head off a possible election that could deliver the PCs a minority win.
“This is a government with no other mandate but to stay in power,” Shurman said calling plans to spend money on new programs to kickstart youth employment and address home healthcare services “NDP buyoffs.”
“The Liberal’s budget is just about saving the Liberals’ hide,” Shurman said.
Topping the list of asks from the NDP is a 15 per cent cut in auto insurance premiums for Ontarian drivers, who have seen insurance claims costs skyrocket in recent years.
The NDP want a guaranteed “across the board” reduction, while the budget plan vows to legislate a 15 per cent decline “on average” one year after the budget passes.
The bill would mandate lower premiums for drivers with clean records and beef up the powers of the Superintendent of Financial Services, the provincial body that oversees the industry, as well.
Another $260-million has been earmarked to bolster home health care services. The NDP were looking for another guarantee that individuals in need of home care will start receiving it no more than five days after being approved for the aid.
The budget fails to make that absolute commitment, as well, but it does move money around to expand services to allow 46,000 more patients to begin receiving care.
“We’re concerned that when we asked for guarantees, we didn’t get them,” Horwath said. “We want to make sure this budget is accountable. What we don’t see is any accountability measures. That’s very disconcerting.”
The NDP wanted $195-million put into funding for a new youth jobs program to create 25,000 jobs over the next two years. The Liberals have responded with a budget pledge of $295-million and vow to create 30,000 jobs.
The budget also proposes a number of measures that will maintain tax restrictions on big businesses and while raising new costs on the province’s big companies – also measures the left-wing NDP support.
Companies with $10-million in annual sales or more will continue to be prevented from writing off expenses such as food, drinks and entertainment, a move that will preserved $1-billion tax revenues a year.
The NDP want measures made permanent, while the budget calls for the restrictions – which were first introduced with the HST in 2009 – to remain in place until 2018.
The budget will also eliminate employer health tax credits for big businesses with payrolls over $5-million as well as introduce new tax compliance legislation. The corporate tax rate was untouched.
Still, in order to win support from the NDP, “accountability measures” — whatever those might be — will have to be built into the budget before it moves to a final vote in the next several weeks, Horwath suggested. Failing that, an election may be triggered.
“The issue now is to hold their feet to the fire,” the Ontario NDP leader said.
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