Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty was on the defensive Sunday about his party's plan to scrap construction of a gas-fired power plant on the Toronto-Mississauga border.
McGuinty said the pledge to build the 280-megawatt plant elsewhere shows that the Ontario Liberals listen to local communities. He said the size of the neighbourhood around the proposed plant has grown significantly since the project was planned in 2005, and that they would find a new location to construct the plant.
The Liberals did not elaborate on Sunday how much it would cost to relocate the plant or where it might go.
Earlier, McGuinty spent the day reminding voters of his party's commitment to making post-secondary education more accessible and affordable.
Speaking to a crowd of Ontario Young Liberals in Toronto, McGuinty pledged to help lower- and middle-income families deal with undergraduate tuition costs with a grant for full-time students.
The grant would translate to $1,600 in savings per student in university and $730 per student in college.
In Brantford, Ont. PC Leader Tim Hudak pledged on Sunday his party would cut through the "horror show" of red tape faced by victims of crime when applying for compensation.
Hudak made the announcement after meeting with the family of Isaak Bayne, a young man who suffered brain damage in 2003 following a robbery at a bank machine.
Bayne's family spent three years trying to get money from a provincial tribunal body which grants financial compensation to victims of violent crimes – a "second degree of hell" for the family, Hudak said.
The Tory leader said Premier Dalton McGuinty's government has been holding onto a $31-million surplus in the Victims Justice Fund. The PC leader said that if he is elected, he would ensure the money would actually go to the victims.
In March, the Liberals said most of that surplus has already been committed, leaving about $3 million in unspent funds. Hudak accused McGuinty's party, however, of playing "fast and loose" with those numbers.
Meanwhile, Andrea Horwath's party announced on Sunday their platform promises would cost $3.3 billion, compared to $3.6 billion for the Liberals and close to $6 billion for the Tories.
The Ontario New Democrats said their party is the only one to base its campaign promises on assumptions from the 2011 budget and therefore is the most cost-effective.
Horwath's party said the other two parties are assuming revenue increases of between $400 million and $500 million over the next four years -- an assumption the NDP said is a gamble given it appears the province is headed for another recession.
"The other parties want to keep going down the wasteful path of giving billions of our tax dollars away while hoping for the best," Horwath said in a statement released on Sunday.
The NDP's platform, dubbed the "Plan for Affordable Change," pledges to increase funding for health care, raise the minimum wage to $11 an hour and axe the Harmonized Sales Tax from gasoline, hydro and home heating bills.
The party has also promised to freeze transit fares, hike up corporate taxes and cut ambulance fees.
McGuinty's campaign said the "socialist economic theory" the NDP's plan is based on is irresponsible, and it's replete with job-killing tax increases and tax breaks for Ontarians who consume too much gas.
The Liberals pointed to the party's record when Bob Rae was the province's premier 20 years ago.
With files from The Canadian Press
