Reaction to the Liberal budget was swift today, at least from the one opposition party willing to comment on it.
PC Leader Tim Hudak and his finance critic Vic Fideli were the only ones willing comment on the budget, as NDP Leader Andrea Horwath decided to snub the process completely.
Hudak and his team denounced the budget altogether just as he said he would in recent weeks as details of the plan leaked.
Breaking with tradition, Horwath announced early Thursday that she would not be attending a question and answer period with reporter reviewing the budget ahead of its unveiling in Legislature.
A staff member said she would not be commenting on the budget at all on Thursday but instead would spend the day reviewing it. She is expected to officially respond to the budget Friday morning at 10 a.m.
Her response is hotly anticipated, particularly because if she doesn’t support it, the government will fall and a spring election will be called.
“I’m perplexed why the leader of the third party would not stand before Ontarians to discuss what’s being proposed today,” said Finance Minister Charles Sousa when asked about Horwath’s snub. “This is about well being of Ontarians, not the well being of a political party.”
For the last few years, Horwath has been the one to keep the Liberals afloat despite the spending scandals that have plagued the government.
The Liberals have tailored their last several budgets to appease the NDP’s demands around social welfare and support for low-income Ontarians.
But this time, it might not be enough.
“Quite frankly, I expected Horwath and the NDP to stand up for Ontarians but instead they chose to duck and run.” Hudak said.
When asked about his thoughts on the budget and what he would do to help low-income residents, Hudak said his focus will be on jobs.
“My job is to create the million jobs plan,” he said. “That’s my plan, not tinkering with this plan. My plan is to get people working. What am I going to do for low-income individuals? Give them hope about jobs.”
Finance critic Fideli accused the Liberals of creating a budget that calls for “reckless spending putting the most vulnerable at risk.”
“Today’s budget is the latest proof that the same government that created this financial mess is not capable of getting us out of it,” he said. “The Liberals are increasing taxes and the deficit at the same time. And frankly, that takes a lot of doing.”
The Liberal’s plan to create a new mandatory pension fund will end up costing Ontario 100,000 jobs over the next decade, Fideli said, sourcing documents from the government’s finance department.
Under the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, employers and employees would be forced to contribute equal funds to the worker’s retirement savings.
