TORONTO - The Ontario leaders’ debate began with a question about jobs, but most of the debate turned on taxes.
Catherine Balfour started things off by asking how the candidates would help recent graduates find full-time employment.
PC leader Tim Hudak took the opportunity to talk about how a PC government would lower red tape on businesses and would add 200,000 positions in skilled trades through apprenticeship programs.
McGuinty took shots from both Horwath and Hudak, who said that McGuinty failed to create jobs.
Other questions focused on students, seniors and health care, but through much of the debate, the discussion kept returning to taxes.
Responding to a question about cuts to government spending, Horwath and Hudak concentrated on the question of corporate tax cuts – Hudak saying that Horwath would increase taxes on corporations, hurting job creation. Horwath responded that Ontario will remain very competitive when compared to Great Lakes states and she would instead reward companies that create jobs.
A memorable exchange during the third round, which focused on help for seniors, saw Hudak repeatedly stating that McGuinty would raise taxes. This prompted McGuinty to deny it. “I’m not raising taxes,” he said, adding that Hudak should stop saying so.
He later said that there were only two parties who will raise taxes, implying that the Liberals weren’t one of them.
Energy policy occasionally surfaced during the debate, particularly towards the end of the fourth round. McGuinty talked about how his government had added a micro energy producers program. Hudak said that he would cancel this MicroFit “energy experiment.”
Students also had their moment.
“This is not a province that puts students first,” said Horwath. She then said that the NDP will help student debt by instituting a tuition freeze.
Hudak said that he would cancel a scholarship program for foreign students and redirect the money to the Ontario Student Assistance program, prompting a response from McGuinty. The Liberal leader suggested that Hudak did not like foreigners, saying that the PC leader was against foreign students and foreign companies – and mentioning Hudak’s statements about “foreign workers” from earlier in the campaign.
For her part, Horwath said she regretted “the hurling of accusations and insults when we should be focusing on making Ontario a better place.”
During the last round, which focused on health care, Hudak attacked McGuinty over the e-health scandal, saying that several hospitals could have been built with the money lost. McGuinty defended the creation of electronic health records. Hudak also promised to cancel the LHINs, calling them “a bloated layer of middle management.”
In their closing statements, the leaders summed up the reasons why they deserve Ontarians’ votes.
McGuinty argued for staying the course. He said, “The economy is turning around.” He also said the last thing the province needs is to increase corporate taxes and cancel contracts.
Hudak asked a single question, “Can we afford four more years of Dalton McGuinty?”
Horwath said that Ontarians can choose “one of the same old suits” or a party that “puts people first.”
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