The Ontario Liberals' election platform will include promises to cut the Provincial Sales Tax on bicycles, give parents a tax credit for children enrolled in sports and offer dental care to the working poor.
The eight per cent PST cut on the sale of bicycles will also apply for helmets, sources told CTV's Paul Bliss.
The announcement on bikes and protective headgear, which is expected soon, would save consumers millions of dollars, Bliss reported.
"That's the best thing I've ever heard because we need the roads to be used by cyclists because it's just so environmentally friendly," avid cyclist Kimchan Ramrattan told CTV News on Tuesday.
Sources said parents should expect a tax credit from the Liberals for children enrolled in organized sports and recreational activities such as dancing.
The fitness credit is expected to save parents millions of dollars, Bliss reported.
Poor to get dental care
The Liberal election platform will also include basic dental care for the province's working poor, the Toronto Star reports.
The $45 million-a-year program, expected to be released later this week, comes two months after New Democrat Leader Howard Howard promised a $100 million-a-year denticare program called "Ontario Smiles."
A senior Liberal source told the Star the Liberal plan is aimed at the working poor because most low-income workers don't have private health coverage for their teeth.
About 500,000 Ontarians would be eligible for the proposed plan.
"Helping low-income families with dental services is the next step in our plan to fight poverty," the source told the newspaper, saying the pledge is smaller than the NDP's.
The Liberal plan will cover preventive care, such as cleanings and fluoride treatments by dental hygienists, as well as fillings and extractions by dentists, the source said.
Currently, there is no public dental care for the working poor, who are among the roughly one-half of Canadians who do not have dental coverage, the Star reported.
The Liberal platform is being released this week, but Premier Dalton McGuinty won't begin officially campaigning for the Oct. 10 election until Monday.
With a report from CTV's Paul Bliss
