LIBERALS
WILL EITHER RAISE TAXES OR BREAK MORE PROMISES
(Queen's
Park, ON) - Today
Dalton McGuinty refused to assure the people of
Ontario
that he would not raise taxes again before the end of his Liberal
government's
mandate.
"We've
seen a year of broken promises and huge tax increases," said
Interim
Opposition
Leader Bob Runciman. "It looks like the next three years are
going
to be much more of the same from this Liberal government."
The
McGuinty Liberals blocked the release of a secret document for more
than
a
year that shows the cost of their election promises is billions more
than
they
told voters. Pressed in the House today, McGuinty refused to
acknowledge
he now has a choice between breaking more promises and raising
taxes,
provided he still plans to balance the budget.
"The
Liberals have to come clean about their intentions," said Ontario PC
Party
Leader John Tory. "The public service told them a year ago the cost
of
their
231 campaign promises is three times what they told the people of
Ontario
yet they keep trying to diminish the opinion of the professional
public
service and marginalize the report."
The
McGuinty Liberals claimed during the election that capping class sizes
at
20 students would only cost $375 million in 2006/07. The true cost is
over
$1 billion. They also claimed their "Best Start" plan would cost
only
$300
million. The Public Service estimates it will cost $1.5 billion.
"People
in this province want a competent government that they can trust.
Unfortunately,
they're seeing mismanagement and incompetence as well as a
growing
list of broken promises," Tory continued. "The government has a
simple
question to answer: will it break more promises, or raise taxes to
pay
for the real costs of its promises?"
