McGuinty Liberals, desperate to defend the Harper/McGuinty strategy of shifting the tax burden onto households, cite Manitoba’s tax plans as an inspiration. But Manitoba has reduced corporate tax rates only when the economy could afford it. In the face of a downturn they held off plans to lower the rate to 11% (Bloomberg News, Mar. [...]

Learn more →

The Conservatives want to slash the minimum ratio of journeypersons to apprentices on large worksites in Ontario from 3-to-1 down to 1-to-1. This change would not expand skilled-trades employment.  It would simply allow unscrupulous employers to substitute lower-paid apprentices for fully-qualified journeypersons, undermining skills training. Here’s what industry is saying about Tim Hudak’s plan: “Ontario [...]

Learn more →

Later today, Tim Hudak will visit Pickering-Scarborough East candidate Kevin Gaudet. One wonders what Hudak thinks of his candidate’s previous attacks on families in North Bay and Northern Ontario. Here’s what Gaudet said about Ontario Northland and people looking for good jobs in the North when he was with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation: Ontario Northland shouldn’t be [...]

Learn more →

While Tim Hudak claims that the NDP is a ‘high tax party,’ his record on affordability for Ontario families speaks for itself. When Hudak was a Minister in Ernie Eves’ cabinet, the PCs implemented the disastrous experiment in hydro deregulation and privatisation. Hudak said at the time that it “fits with the Ernie Eves policy [...]

Learn more →

In the Liberals’ third attack on Andrea Horwath today, Dwight Duncan blamed his federal Liberal leader Bob Rae for job losses in the 1990s. He then said the NDP would “kill jobs” by restoring the corporate tax rate to 2010 levels. But given that he’s argued so strongly against corporate tax cuts in the past, [...]

Learn more →

Jim Flaherty inked a closed-door deal with the McGuinty Liberals that kept the HST on hydro, home heating, and gasoline (Nov. 6, 2009, http://bit.ly/nED27m) While Hudak was calling it a “bad deal” (Toronto Star, Sep. 24, 2009), Flaherty was hailing the HST and the McGuinty Liberals for being convinced by “Bay St.”: “I think this [...]

Learn more →

Tim Hudak says the HST was a “bad deal” (Toronto Star, Sep. 24, 2009). But he campaigns with Flaherty, who signed the HST deal with the Liberals. And he’ll keep the HST on gasoline. Hudak says he wants to re-open the Port Colborne ER. But he doesn’t make room for it in his costing. Hudak [...]

Learn more →

Yesterday, Tim Hudak took a run at McGuinty’s economic strategy: “Dalton McGuinty’s so-called jobs plan has been tried. It has failed. It’s not working.” – Globe and Mail, Sep. 29, 2011 But the single largest economic commitment in Hudak’s platform is $1.8 billion in corporate tax cuts – the exact same plan as McGuinty’s. Talk [...]

Learn more →

Steve Paikin: “Adam [Radwanski] and I actually were both at the NDP launch of their fiscal platform this past weekend, and they do have the most modest financial promises – costed out, independently verified – of all of the four major parties.” Steve Paikin: “Well, they’ve [New Democrats] got a $1.7 billion annual contingency to [...]

Learn more →

Today, Dalton McGuinty re-jigged his promised “Seniors’ Healthy Home Renovation Tax Credit.”  He claims that this new measure will create jobs in Ontario’s construction and manufacturing sectors. Statistics Canada’s latest Labour Force Survey reports that Ontario lost 29,500 construction jobs in August – a 6.4% drop in construction employment in just one month.  Ontario lost [...]

Learn more →

Last night on Sun Television’s ‘Byline with Brian Lilley,’ Liberal lobbyist Warren Kinsella had the following to say: “As Mr. Harper said and Mr. McGuinty says, we are doing pretty good. I think that’s why you see many people who voted for Harper federally are the very same voters who are getting ready for vote for [...]

Learn more →

Dalton McGuinty says he’s now adjusting his plan for the worsening economic outlook and may increase spending on job creation. Earlier this week, he announced plans to cancel construction of a gas plant his government had already approved, a decision that could cost as much as $1 billion. Which plan will Dalton McGuinty invest more [...]

Learn more →