Queen’s Park resumes with throne speech

Ontario’s Liberal minority government outlined its agenda in a throne speech on Tuesday afternoon.

The speech, which was read by Lt.-Gov. David Onley, addressed Premier Dalton McGuinty’s promises to provide a $1500 home renovation tax credit for seniors and a 30 per cent reduction in college and university tuitions, but didn’t mention opposition proposals.

“Overall it’s a more focused agenda than you’d normally see in a throne speech,” a senior Liberal source told The Canadian Press.

“It’s not a laundry list of every commitment we made in the platform because, quite frankly, in the current fiscal situation and minority government, that’s not always going to be possible.”

The speech didn’t address the Progressive Conservatives’ demand for a public sector wage freeze, the NDPs’ call to eliminate corporate tax cuts or opposition parties’ desire to eliminate the eight per cent provincial portion of the HST from home heating bills.

The tone of the throne speech was one of fiscal restraint, and comes after a warning by the premier that government will have to limit spending increases to an average of one per cent a year until the $16 billion deficit is eliminated in 2017-18.

That will mean cuts in almost all areas except health care and education, which together consume more than 70 cents of every dollar the province spends. But the speech didn’t cover what services may be affected.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan will deliver the fall economic update, which will cover the impact lower growth forecasts will have on the provincial books and pave the way for some serious belt-tightening measures in next year’s budget.

With files from The Canadian Press

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