Horwath wants feedback from Ontarians on budget
Posted May 3, 2013 10:18 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Despite having much of her demands met in the Liberal budget, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will not commit to supporting it and averting an election.
Instead, she wants to consult with the people of the province.
Horwath is on the fence because there are no guarantees and no time frames for items such as a cut in auto insurance premiums and better home care services.
Like she did for last year’s budget, Horwath is reaching out to the people of Ontario through a website and toll-free phone line (1-877-341-0244.)
“I’m really committed to hearing from Ontarians because I think that they deserve to have a say in how we move forward,” she said.
“For me, it’s not about Mr. Hudak, it’s not about Ms. Wynne. It’s about actually achieving things for Ontarians. I think that’s what they sent us here to do.”
Tory finance critic MPP Peter Shurman says it is time Horwath took a stand.
“The NDP has already gotten everything they want so I’m not understanding what another week or 10 days of answering 1-800-Andrea is going to do,” he said.
“Even if she accepts and takes the seven demands, she knows that she is abdicating her own responsibility by not addressing the things that we’re talking about, which is jobs and the economy.”
Shurman says the Liberals have spent a billion dollars to buy the NDP’s support instead of focusing on creating jobs and reducing the debt.
Meanwhile, the Liberals are prepared to make minor changes to the budget, but won’t restart negotiations with the New Democrats on its contents, Premier Kathleen Wynne warned Friday.
The government consulted more than 600,000 people as well as the opposition parties as it prepared the budget, and doesn’t see why the NDP needs to consult voters before deciding whether or not to support it and avoid an election, said Wynne.
“From my perspective there may be some tweaks, there may be some small changes, but the reality is that this is not the beginning of a negotiation on this document,” she said.
“It’s not a moment to begin a conversation about how we can construct a budget. We’ve done that, and with a lot of input.”
