This week in the Inside Ontario blog:
An uncertain future for full-day kindergarten
Dalton McGuinty says there will be no tax hike in the coming budget
A PC MPP proposes giving Ontario citizens recall powers
Former Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson to run for the Ontario Liberals
Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak says if elected premier he will freeze the implementation of full-day kindergarten. Hudak says he will only add more full-day kindergarten classes if the provincial government can afford it.
Two weeks ago Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced full-day kindergarten will be added to another 900 schools by September 2012, making the service available to half of Ontario’s four and five year olds.
When those additional classrooms are operating, it is expected that full-day kindergarten will cost $1.5 billion per year. The additional expense comes at a time when the provincial deficit is $18.7 billion.
The provincial Liberals believe full-day kindergarten is one of their most popular programs. Two weeks ago when responding questions about troubling polling numbers for the Liberals, McGuinty said:
Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky claimed that freezing the implementation of this program would create two-tier schools in Ontario (those with the full-day kindergartens and those without them).
Last week Dalton McGuinty said there will no tax increase in the coming provincial budget.
Unsurprisingly, Tim Hudak criticized the tax promise as disingenuous. However, Hudak said: “C'mon, I'm more likely to believe that Charlie Sheen is going to kick his drug habit than Dalton McGuinty won't raise taxes.”
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan took offence to the comment saying it mocked those struggling with addiction. Duncan also noted that he was the administrator of the Windsor’s Brentwood Recovery Home (a narcotic and alcohol addiction recovery centre) for eight years.
The ensuing media coverage focused on making as many "winning" and "tiger blood" references as possible (phrases Charlie Sheen enjoys using on Twitter), stealing the spotlight from the tax issue.
In the 2003 election campaign McGuinty promised not to raise taxes. He won the election, but in McGuinty government’s first budget, it was revealed that the provincial government had a $6-billion hidden deficit. Dwight Duncan introduced a new healthcare premium so the government could tackle the deficit without making cuts to social services.
In the TVO Public Archive you can find Steve Paikin interviewing Dalton McGuinty on his decision to raise taxes.
Steve Clark, PC MPP for Leeds-Grenville, is recommending that Tim Hudak create a recall system if he is elected premier. Recall would allow voters to hold a referendum to un-elect their MPP between elections.
British Columbia already allows citizens to recall their provincial MLAs.
Clark says he has studied democratic reform options for nearly a year at Hudak’s request.
Former Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson announced last week that she will run for the Liberals in Trinity—Spadina in the October provincial election.
Trinity—Spadina is currently held by Rosario Marchese of the NDP. He has held the riding since 1990, most recently beating Liberal candidate Kathryn Halloway by more than 4,200 votes in the 2007 provincial election.
It was previously speculated that Thomson would run for the Liberals in Parkdale—High Park against incumbent NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo.
Another former Toronto mayoral candidate, Rocco Rossi, announced last month that he will run for the PCs in Eglinton—Lawrence in the provincial election.
To learn more about Ontario provincial politics visit TVO’s Civics 101 microsite.
And to stay on top of the issues that shape the next provincial election campaign go to TVO’s Your Vote 2011 page.
