TORONTO - Ontario's new minority government will convene for the first time Nov. 21, but the opposition parties are concerned that Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals will continue to run the province as if they have a majority.
McGuinty announced Wednesday members would return to the legislature a week later than originally scheduled for their first session since the Liberals were reduced to a minority in the Oct. 6 election.
"I must say I am eager to work with my colleagues in all the parties," McGuinty told reporters.
"I know that we share the same top priority: we need to focus on jobs and the economy."
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said McGuinty still had not been in touch with him or NDP Leader Andrea Horwath since the election to discuss the minority parliament.
There are times it seems the Liberals don't understand the majority of people did not vote for them and expect to see more co-operation with the opposition, added Hudak.
"You get different signals. Some days there's promising signs, some days there are signs that they're not going to listen," he said.
"I guess time will tell what their approach is going to be."
The New Democrats also found they were getting mixed signals from the Liberals about their willingness to work with the opposition parties in the minority parliament.
"The Liberals are really good at saying really nice things, but when it comes to their actions, they do quite the opposite," said NDP house leader Gilles Bisson.
"I still see a certain resistance on the part of this government to really mend their ways."
The government will have to overhaul its economic forecasts and spending priorities after a fall economic update, which will be delivered a few days after the legislature resumes, said McGuinty.
"I'm confident we can do what we planned to do originally for this year in terms of achieving our target for the deficit," he said.
"But beyond that we're going to have to take a good hard look at how the numbers are materializing."
The Tories accused the Liberals of playing politics with the deficit, which they said during the election had been reduced to $15 billion but announced shortly afterwards that the annual budget shortfall was $16 billion.
"I'm worried the government tried to mislead us in the election campaign about the true state of Ontario's deficit," said Hudak.
McGuinty said the Liberals can afford their promises to cut tuition fees by 30 per cent, which will cost $200 million this year and grow to $486 million annually, and to introduce a home renovation credit for seniors at a cost of $120 million a year when fully implemented.
However, the Tories warned they want a tight lid on new government initiatives and want to see spending cut by at least $5 billion a year.
"Any new initiatives the government brings forward on the spending side, they have to show how they'll save at least that amount of money by reducing spending to find the savings," said Hudak.
"For every dollar that Dalton McGuinty brings forward, we need at least a dollar more in savings so we balance the books. We just can't continue on this big deficit path."
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said Hudak would have to start being specific about just what he wants to see cut.
"That cheap, mind-numbingly simple kind of talk from Mr. Hudak is not good enough anymore," said Duncan.
The first order of business for the politicians Nov. 21 will be the election of a new Speaker in a secret ballot, followed the next day by a throne speech outlining the government's legislative priorities for the new session.
Four Liberals are in the running for the Speaker's job, including former cabinet minister Donna Cansfield, who wants to become the first woman elected Speaker in Ontario.
The Tories and NDP combined have one more seat than the Liberals, whose numbers will be reduced by yet one more when a Speaker is elected.
