Ontario election threat eases even as opposition makes more budget changes
Posted June 19, 2012 5:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The threat of a summer election has eased in Ontario despite more opposition changes to the Liberals’ budget.
The NDP teamed with the Progressive Conservatives to remove another key portion from the government’s budget at committee on Monday.
Premier Dalton McGuinty had warned Sunday he could not allow any more major changes after making earlier concessions to get the NDP’s support.
But Finance Minister Dwight Duncan says the Liberals knew the NDP would want to remove a section on labour arbitration and blasted the Conservatives for helping them do it.
Duncan says Monday’s changes weren’t enough to alter the direction of the budget, but he’ll be watching closely Tuesday to make sure there are no more major amendments.
The premier warned last week that he would call an election rather than see the budget altered dramatically by the opposition parties.
The budget faces one final day of hearings at the finance committee before the legislature is recalled Wednesday for the final vote.
If the budget is not passed the minority government would be defeated, automatically triggering another election.
