Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty has promised again to freeze taxes if he is re-elected premier of Ontario, even though he broke a pledge not to raise taxes that he signed during the last election campaign four years ago.
McGuinty introduced a health-care tax of up to $900 per taxpayer shortly after the Liberals were elected in 2003, blaming a deficit left by the previous Conservative government.
"We won't have to increase taxes on a go-forward basis because we now know that we've come a long way from that $5.6-billion deficit," he said Tuesday after visiting an Ottawa elementary school. "We've balanced the budget two years in a row."
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation presented Progressive Conservative John Tory with McGuinty's signature on a 2003 pledge not to raise taxes.
"That is why a lot of people, our group include, has branded the premier a liar," said John Williamson, a spokesman for the taxpayers lobby group.
Tory said the health tax not only broke the promise, but "shattered it beyond all recognition."
Tory has promised to scrap the health tax if he is elected on Oct. 10, while McGuinty said he will keep it.
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Ontario Votes 2007 »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
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More Ontario Votes Headlines »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
