NDP Finance critic Michael Prue is outraged that the McGuinty Liberals voted down a widely-supported set of proposed budget priorities, including a jobs stimulus plan, fair funding for municipalities and an anti-poverty strategy.

“It’s outrageous that Dalton McGuinty is more interested in escalating his feud with Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty than taking concrete action on the real needs of Ontarians. If Flaherty is trashing Ontario, then McGuinty is destroying it,” said Prue.

Prue presented the budget priorities by way of motions tabled at today’s meeting of the Legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. The 12 motions – all of which were defeated by the Liberal majority on the committee - lay out a number of spending priorities, including:

- An $800-million jobs stimulus plan that features an investment tax credit and a “Buy Ontario” program;

- Full uploading of provincially-mandated programs and services from cash-strapped municipalities;

- A comprehensive anti-poverty strategy that features an $11 minimum wage by 2011; and

- A comprehensive Health Care reform package that includes an immediate staffing standard of 3.5 hours of nursing and personal support per resident per day in long term care homes.

“Our budget priorities provide the solutions that Ontario requires during this time of fiscal uncertainty. We are demonstrating the kind of leadership that is sorely lacking from the McGuinty Liberals,” said Prue.