McGuinty faces tax hike questions after launching platform
Posted September 5, 2011 6:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Premier Dalton McGuinty wants Ontario voters to believe he won’t raise taxes again if the Liberals are re-elected Oct. 6, but he wouldn’t say the words Monday as he launched his campaign platform.
McGuinty answered ”No” when specifically asked if he would raise taxes again, but when pressed by reporters to state in a full sentence that he would not raise taxes, the premier refused to say all the words.
“Will you say it?” he was asked repeatedly.
“I just did,” said McGuinty. “We will not.”
The Liberal leader also declined to say why voters should believe him personally after he promised before the last two Ontario elections not to raise taxes, and did so both times, first with a health-care tax of up to $900 per worker in 2004 and with the harmonized sales tax in 2009.
“Ontario families have made their contribution,” he said. “They have done their share, and what an enormous difference that has made.”
The opposition parties said McGuinty cannot be trusted when it comes to tax hikes, which the Progressive Conservatives called the elephant in the room.
“Dalton McGuinty is a liar,” said PC candidate Andrea Mandel-Campbell standing in front of a giant inflated red elephant.
“He said he would not raise taxes, not once but twice, and he will raise taxes again.”
The New Democrats also said voters won’t trust McGuinty.
“He can make promises till he’s blue in the face, but he’s got an eight-year track record,” said NDP candidate Paul Ferreira.
“One of the reasons people have decided it’s time for a change is because the premier has broken his word a number of times. The trust factor is gone.”
McGuinty defended his government’s spending of tax dollars to improve health care and education, themes which figured prominently again in the Liberal platform, which was released Monday.
The most expensive, high-profile promise in the McGuinty platform is a 30 per cent reduction in college and university tuition fees for families earning less than $160,000 a year.
“This is about more than just winning the election. It’s about winning the future,” McGuinty said.
