Ontario Budget 2

Yes, I can afford it.  And I have already said in two other threads, and in my response to the NDP's poll (which I also posted in one of these threads), that if they actually managed to stand on principle for a change and vote this budget down in order to stand up for people on social assistance and public sector workers, not only would I donate money and volunteer time to the campaign, I'd probably also take out a membership card.

I for one can't afford another election and would think the money better spent on those we say we care about - people on SA, restricted incomes, disability, childcare, schools and so on. I'd rather those millions go there rather than on ads, signs, and so on. That said, I hope McGuinty "sees the writing on the wall" and taxes above 250,000.00 earners, and re-invests the savings into those other areas.

Incidently schools close when there is declining enrolment and doesn't effect staff since their numbers are dependent on the total number of students, although EAs and support staff would be effected. Remember, about 90% of the education budget is in staffing costs.

The only polls quoted in this thread completely contradict what you're saying.

That really depends. People aren't for freezing social assistance but they are for freezing public sector wages. They are for higher taxes on the wealthy...unless it reduces the number of jobs available. I don't think the general public are really firmly in anyone's court at the moment.

Self interest for the Ontario NDP if they want to get re elected....

...And self interest for voters since we want a future for this province!

The Liberals need 1 non-Liberal vote to pass the budget right?

I tend to think the government wielding major-minority power will wear their own record in power. Voters won't remember which MPPs voted for the budget when unemployment sky rockets and debt soars higher off the graph. Pinocchio's face will be there on the big dart board come election time when he has to explain himself to the electorate. Horwath can simply say that the McGuinty threatened to take Ontario hostage for another expensive election six months after the last one unless things went their way on the budget. Horwath can emphasize that our dysfunctional electoral system is still broken, and that's just the way the Liberals and Tories prefer things to be in old Ontario.

McGuilty threatened nothing of the sort. He presented a budget, as he was legally required to do, and if the opizishin voted it down, there would be an election. It's the opizishin, not the government, that threatens an election (in this case, specifically the Conservatives and not the NDP).

Besides which, it's pretty pathetic to say to millions of voters "We caved to the Liberal austerity agenda and thereby cost you hundreds of dollars each in order to save you [but in reality ourselves] from the horror of having an opportunity to vote on your own fate. And just think of all the money we saved the Liberal government by making sure you didn't get that opportunity!"

The amount saved by not having an election on the austerity issue, by the way, is about $92 million.

That's about 7/100ths of a percent of the McGuilty budget.

It's also far less than half as much as the NDP wants the government to give away to employers as an incentive to "create jobs".

Funny how there's always money for corporate giveaways but none for allowing people a say in how they are to be governed!

This is not altruism...  this is our mutual survival....The NDP if they stand up for Ontarians can gain from this....

She could vote against the measure ...she has the balance of  power...  But that would trigger an an election...

Have you had a chance to email either Dalton or Andrea with you views on the budget

Agree she is caugnt between a rock and the hard place...Unfortunately so is Ontario!!

You're mistaken. We do know what she's proposed as amendments, and they're ridiculously wrong-headed, and a complete squandering of the first poitical leverage the NDP has had in 17 years.

NDP support for community healthcare hopefully includes respect for the Canada Health Act, wherein public administration is upheld, ie) public management of health records, data collection, planning, and insurance billing.  It's illegal to allow current private e-health management and billing, giving access to our health data to global private insurance and finance whose subsidiaries create the templates for data collection, templates which also structure therapy, outcomes, and are used to determine allocation of funds in health system planning.

Private insurance/finance should not be managing our public health system.  It's illegal under the Canada Health Act.  Private management of our health care system has allowed for-profit corporations to determine, through software infrastructure, which services are to be covered publicly, which privately, and at what cost.  Corporate decision-making is, by law, to uphold the interest of shareholders. Governments have a duty to uphold human rights, including the right to healthcare.  Public employees, accountable to ensure our rights to coverage and access to care regardless of income level, need to be the ones doing the work of e-health, records, template design, billing, and planning.

Wow. I read the whole article. One has to wonder where Horwath is getting her advice from.