Minority Government

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Wednesday, September 18, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, September 18, 2013

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath: Time for Liberals to deliver on budget promises

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is demanding the minority Liberal government make more progress this fall on budget pledges like lower auto insurance rates, but didn’t set a deadline for withdrawing support.
Horwath emerged from a half-hour meeting with Premier Kathleen Wynne late Monday afternoon concerned she is not moving fast enough on NDP-inspired measures such as shorter home-care waits and more jobs for youth.

“The fall session is the time for her to start making good on those promises. I don’t know that I got a response that makes me comfortable,” she told reporters.

“It’s easy to make promises. The real question is can you keep them. And we’ve seen not such a great track record from Liberals . . . . I let her know that. I don’t want to hear excuses.”

Wynne requested the meeting and a similar one last week with Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak in a bid to find “common ground” on stalled legislation such as a ban on children under 18 using tanning beds and an act promoting local foods.

Without co-operation, the premier threatened to pull the plug on the minority parliament and call a snap election this fall. The legislature has passed only one piece of major legislation since Wynne became premier last February — the spring budget, backed by the NDP. (Source: The Toronto Star)
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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Thursday, May 9, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, May 9, 2013

Horwath calls for financial accountability watchdog

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is proposing that a financial accountability office be created to track government spending. Horwath’s proposal comes as the Liberals need NDP support to pass their budget and avoid a spring election.

The creation of a spending and revenue watchdog would help prevent wasting billions at eHealth, Ornge and the cancelled gas plants, Horwath said. The office would also provide analysis on government estimates.

Horwath said it would operate much like the federal parliamentary budget office once run by Kevin Page.
“People are upset that their hard-earned dollars have been wasted in the past by the Liberals,” said Horwath.

Creating an accountability office would cost roughly $2.5 million as a high estimate, said Horwath.
“No reasonable person would think this is out of the question,” Horwath said at a news conference Wednesday.

When questioned, Horwath said the proposal is not a final offer for the Liberals.

The idea isn’t a new one. Finance Minister Charles Sousa was asked about it on CBC’s Ontario Today call-in show, and didn’t dismiss it.

“It’s something that should be of consideration,” said Sousa. “We want to be open and transparent.”
Speaking Wednesday in Kitchener-Waterloo, Premier Kathleen Wynne called the idea interesting but said she wants a face-to-face discussion with Horwath. (Source: CBC News)

Tuesday April 30, 2013

Tuesday April 30, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 30, 2013

Tories launching ‘non-confidence’ vote in bid to topple Liberals

Raising pressure on the NDP to help defeat the minority Liberals over the power plant scandal, the Progressive Conservatives charge the government “bought the last election.”

Tory Leader Tim Hudak launched a long-shot bid to topple Premier Kathleen Wynne’s administration on Monday with a non-confidence motion over the cancelled plants in Oakville and Mississauga.

“If this isn’t corruption then tell me what is?” Hudak said, referring to critics’ estimates that the cost to taxpayers could reach $1 billion for axing both plants to save Liberal seats in the 2011 election.

But it’s unlikely the non-confidence motion — first mentioned by the Tories a week ago — will amount to much because it needs approval from all three parties to go to a vote in the legislature.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath branded it a “political game” and Government House leader John Milloy told reporters “the theatrics are getting a little silly.”

Wynne, who will testify Tuesday before a legislative committee investigating the scrapped power plants, said the opposition will have a chance to vote the government down within weeks.

“There is a big confidence opportunity with the budget and we will be bringing the budget down on Thursday. The opposition can express their confidence or not.”

An auditor’s report found the cost to cancel the Mississauga plant was $275 million — 45 per cent more than the $190 million the Liberals claimed. They have put the cost of cancelling Oakville at just $40 million. (Source: Toronto Star)
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