TORONTO – Ontario’s NDP Leader Andrea Horwath released her party’s campaign platform Thursday.
Some highlights:
— raise corporate tax rate from 11.5 to 12.5 per cent and cut small business tax rate from 4.5 to 3 per cent
— eliminate Ontario’s $12.5 billion deficit by 2017-18
— targeted tax cuts for companies that create jobs, up to $5,000 per employee, but with “strings attached” to make sure the strategy achieves its goals
— force the provincial regulator to order a 15 per cent cut to auto insurance premiums
— dedicated fund to provide $29 billion over 10 years for transit and transportation projects
— take the provincial portion of the HST off hydro bills, repeal the debt retirement charge, merge four hydro agencies
— cut emergency room wait times in half by using more nurse practitioners
— guarantee that patients discharged from hospital who need home care would get it within five days
— a $1,275 family caregiver tax credit to help seniors live at home
— open 50 new 24-hour family health clinics
— create a fund to prevent school closures and extend after-hour programs
— hire up to 1,000 more educational assistants in schools
— freeze college and university tuitions, make student loans interest-free and forgive up to $20,000 a year of student debt for doctors who agree to work in under-serviced areas
— appoint a minister of savings and accountability to save $600 million a year, starting in 2015-16
— spend less on government advertising and add online ads to the list of ads that’s vetted by Ontario’s auditor general
— appoint Financial Accountability Office
— restore Ontario Northland Rail passenger service
