MITCHELL, ONT., TORONTO — With polls suggesting victory is looming, Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty confidently deflected a two-pronged opposition attack on his integrity Monday, saying Ontarians understand why he broke a key promise of the 2003 election by raising taxes.
Mr. McGuinty spent the second-last day of the campaign trying to pry loose extra seats in prime Conservative territory where he reiterated almost the exact same pledge that got him into so much trouble after the last election.
“We are not going to raise taxes,” he told reporters in Mitchell in Southwestern Ontario.
Four years ago, Mr. McGuinty told voters he would not increase their taxes, only to break that promise with the introduction of a health premium in his first budget after taking office. At the time, he blamed a $5.6-billion deficit left behind by the previous Conservative government.
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But, with the possibility of ousting the Liberals – or even reducing them to a minority – slipping quickly away, opposition leaders hammered at the about-face, saying Mr. McGuinty could no more be trusted today than during the last campaign.
“He will promise anything, he will say anything, he will tell you anything the day before the election to get your vote,” NDP Leader Howard Hampton told a campaign rally in Scarborough.
The Liberal Leader has made more than “six dozen” promises throughout the election, both in his platform and during campaign stops, Mr. Hampton said, a list he hypothesized could cost in excess of $26-billion – substantially more than Liberal estimates of $14.7-billion over four years.
“He's made $26-billion in promises,” Mr. Hampton said. “You can't do that without raising taxes.”
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory was even more scathing in his indictment of the Liberals, saying they came to office dishonestly four years ago and Ontarians are being “bamboozled” all over again.
“This man has proven over and over again he'll say anything to get elected and so it was convenient for him to say that today,” Mr. Tory said of the new pledge that taxes would not increase under a Liberal government. “If I was a voter, I wouldn't believe a word of it.”
But Mr. McGuinty told reporters that the allegations of the opposition leaders are simply not true.
“They are wrong. They're wrong, they're wrong,” he said. “People understand what we have been through.”
He added: “The reason we won't have to raise taxes is because we are not hiding a $5.6-billion deficit. And everybody can count on our numbers, because they have been approved by the Auditor-General unlike the last time.”
A new Strategic Counsel poll conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV suggests the Liberals have the support of 42 per cent of Ontario voters. The Conservatives are at 27 per cent, the New Democrats are at 19 and the Greens are at 11 per cent.
The latest Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll shows similar results with the Liberals at 42 per cent, the Conservatives at 31 per cent, the New Democrats at 17 per cent and the Greens at 9 per cent.
With the election tomorrow, the opposition leaders are fighting for every vote they can get.
Mr. Hampton has accelerated his campaign's schedule and his attacks on Mr. McGuinty, stopping in Oshawa, Belleville, Kingston and Ottawa Monday and visiting four of the party's recently won ridings in Hamilton and Toronto today before heading to his home seat of Fort Frances.
Mr. Tory spent most of Monday in Don Valley West where he is locked in a tight battle with Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne. Today, he will visit 11 ridings in the GTA where his party has the best chance of winning a seat, ending the day back in Don Valley West.
Mr. McGuinty, on the other hand, started the day in Cambridge, which has been held by the Tories for 12 years, and moved on to Perth-Wellington, near Stratford, which the Conservatives looked to snatch back.
During both visits, Mr. McGuinty looked relaxed and spoke to supporters about winning the seats and forming the next government. He later said he was simply trying to rouse support and he was not taking anything for granted.
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