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TORONTO — Premier Dalton McGuinty didn't even wait for the legislature to resume sitting Monday before moving to make good on an election promise to tackle poverty, promising $267-million to upgrade public housing, give low-income families a dental care plan, and put nutritious snacks in schools.
But Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory said Mr. McGuinty doesn't understand that the best way to address poverty in Ontario is with a strong economy, while NDP Leader Howard Hampton called the premier's announcement “grossly inadequate.”
Mr. McGuinty was armed with a tray of sliced oranges and accompanied by two cabinet ministers bearing crackers and cheese as he met with students at Cliffside Public School in east Toronto to announce the first steps towards his promised second-term priority of addressing poverty.
There will be $135-million over three years for a dental care plan for low-income families, spending on the student nutrition program will double to $32-million over three years, and another $100-million will be spent this year on repairs to 4,000 affordable housing units, he said.
“Ours, from any objective basis, is the first government that's moved forward in a deliberate and thoughtful way to tackle poverty in the province of Ontario,” Mr. McGuinty said.
“Nobody before has established indicators. Nobody before has set targets. Nobody before has ever put in place a focused strategy to achieve those targets. That hasn't happened before.”
But Mr. Hampton said the Liberals should have already set targets for reducing poverty instead of studying the issue until the end of the year, and he warned the bill for needed repairs to public housing in Toronto alone would top $300-million.
“These are grossly inadequate measures,” Mr. Hampton said.
“Under the McGuinty government, poverty has gotten worse in the past four years — much worse.”
Echoing the scolding tone taken by federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in recent weeks, Mr. Tory said Mr. McGuinty must move in next week's budget to cut corporate taxes to make Ontario more attractive to investors.
“The policies that he's implementing right now, which are on the wrong track — high taxes, high spending, high regulating — are things that are going to chase jobs out of Ontario and stop us from getting new ones,” Mr. Tory said.
“That will hurt more people and make these problems with dental care and meals in school worse.”
Mr. Tory said Ontario has the least competitive tax rate in the country, and for the first time in 30 years, the province's unemployment rate is higher than the national average.
Mr. McGuinty dismissed suggestions that his Liberals have hardly lived up to his promise of being an “activist” government when the legislature has sat for only two weeks in the past nine months.
“I would never confuse the number of days of sitting with the work that a government does,” he said.
“Don't somehow come to the conclusion that the only work that is done when it comes to improving the quality of life, health care, education, environmental standards and strengthening the economy is done through the passage of new laws.”
Other bills promised by the Liberals in the new session would outlaw smoking in cars with children, prohibit the cosmetic use of pesticides and impose strict new rules on roadside zoos.
