See below – We got word that this week’s campaign release from the Liberals attacked the NDP for its platform budgeting, particularly not including the 2018 new commitments (such as the increased library funding) as well as new commitments between the 2017 and 2018 Budgets.
It’s the first time that the libraries funding was specifically addressed.
While the media is covering the story, there doesn’t seem to have been much coverage of the library piece specifically, as it was listed in a long list of other affected investments.
Toronto Star: https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/05/14/ndp-platform-crafted-on-a-major-mistake-that-means-at-least-3b-in-cuts-liberals-say.html
FOPL is politically non-partisan but we are tracking the platforms and funding commitments of all parties.
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For Immediate Release
May 14, 2018
NDP Refuse to Admit Undeniable Error
Makes Mess Worse by Admitting to Billions in Cuts
TORONTO – The NDP today clung to their belief that Andrea Horwath’s platform is based on the 2018 budget, minus new spending it announced, unless specifically included. Their response – like their platform – fails to account for new spending announcements between the 2017 and 2018 budgets.
In a hasty scrum on her bus, Andrea Horwath said: “all we’re saying is, we don’t agree with what they were going to do, so we have a real plan.” The NDP is now admitting they were not mistaken; they purposely chose to cut the following 2018 Budget initiatives:
- $300 million for 1,000 psychologist, speech pathologists and other services to special education students
- $300 million to double the number of guidance counsellors in elementary schools
- $62 million to provide choice and individualized support for children with autism
- $300 million for a gender-based violence strategy including 1,000 more safe beds for women and children
- $170 million for 15,000 new apprenticeships opportunities
- $1.167 billion for developmental services to provide money for an emergency hotline, improved case management, training for front line staff in the justice sector, appropriate housing, and funding for 350 community-based agencies
- $48 million for libraries to build a province-wide digital public library and help local libraries better support their communities
But Andrea also made a massive mistake in her platform. In a release this morning, the NDP says their “plan does not defund or cut existing programs.”
That is wrong.
In addition to choosing to cut new spending in the 2018 budget, the NDP also cut spending announced between the 2017 Ontario budget last spring and the 2018 budget including:
- Support for Municipalities to Ensure Safe Transition to Federal Cannabis Legalization
- Funds to Revitalize Main Streets, Help Small Businesses Grow
- Long-Term Funding for Horse Racing
- The Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy
- Providing Support to Ontarians Affected by the Opioid Crisis
Independent Economist Mike Moffatt confirmed the Liberal analysis of the NDP platform:
- “It is clear the NDP based their fiscal plan off Ontario’s 2018-19 Budget and then carved out all spending since the tabling of the 2017-18 Budget. This carve-out means some programs already in place would not be funded under the NDP plan. As such, any of those post-Budget 2017-18 initiatives retained under the NDP platform without specific corresponding costing in their platform’s fiscal plan are indeed unfunded.”
Some questions for Andrea and the NDP…
If you meant to kill these things and it wasn’t a mistake, doesn’t that mean you don’t support:
- $40 million to Train Officers and Buy Devices for Cannabis Enforcement?
- $26 million in Small Grants to BIAs to Drive Economic Activity into Main Streets?
- $105 million in Long-Term Funding for Horse Racing?
- $50 million for the Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy?
- $222 million to enhance Ontario’s Strategy to Prevent Opioid Addiction and Overdose?
If you do support them, where are they in your platform?
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For more information:
communications@ontarioliberal.ca |
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