I just finished reading the 53-page platform released this weekend by the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.
Good reading.
The problem is, and by no means am I the first to point this out, there's no costing on it.
The only real dollar figures are in savings.
Tory will cut the health tax. That's $2.5 billion.
He will also cut taxes by finding efficiencies.
"Ask yourself if there's room for the Ontario government to become 2% more efficient over the next four years," the platform reads.
I've asked myself, and the answer is, I don't have a clue. How would I? I know everyone thinks they can run the province better than the guy who's running it, but, even if I did believe 2% in efficiencies could be found, what would I be basing that on? Nothing.
Tory thinks those efficiencies can be found.
The platform insists, "With his strong leadership and management skills, John Tory knows how to find $1.5 billion in savings."
Good for him.
So, that's $4 billion total he's found.
There's a lot to deal with in the platform, but here are some highlights that will certainly have people squawking in the run-up to the Oct. 10 election.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:
Private sector in public health care:
- "As long as universal accessibility is always protected and no one can buy access to better health care in Ontario, we will involve the private sector where there are opportunities to shorten waiting lists and improve access to high-quality, publicly-funded care."
-"Modernize and build new health care facilities through partnerships with communities and the public and private sectors."
Funding for religious education
-"...We are committed to creating an opportunity for non-Catholic, faith-based schools to choose to join our publicly-funded education system the same way Catholic schools have already done."
-To do so, the faith-based schools will need to:
1. Fully incorporate the complete requirements of Ontario's common curriculum, just as in the Catholic system
2. participate in Ontario’s standardized testing program and agree to published results
3. appropriately address teacher credentialing.