TORONTO - Ontario's Progressive Conservatives are reaching out to wider pool of potential converts with an election platform that promises to protect funding for cherished public services, while shrinking government and rolling out $3.5 billion in tax relief over four years.
Leader Tim Hudak's vision for Ontario -- outlined Sunday in a platform dubbed "Changebook" -- doesn't include buying beer for a buck, a broad-based cut to the harmonized sales tax, or even a balanced budget for the deficit-ridden province within his first mandate.
Rather than campaigning on the kind of radical changes that propelled the party to power in the past, Hudak's Tories are turning the tables on the governing Liberals, matching key promises to expand full-day kindergarten and re-balance the books while throwing in a few Conservative staples designed to harness taxpayer outrage.
"Changebook reflects where I come from and Changebook reflects, I think, the values of the vast majority of Ontario families," Hudak said Sunday.
"I think we hit those priorities dead on."
Families want to see more money for health care and education, an end to government waste and scandal and more money in their pockets, Hudak said. And "Changebook" delivers on those three key priorities.
The Tories plan to chop two per cent of government spending outside of health care and education each year if they win the Oct. 6 election, starting with $600 million in the first year.
Ministers sitting around a smaller cabinet table would see their pay docked if they don't meet their budget targets.
The party would also reduce the size of government, cut public-sector jobs and bring public salaries in line with private-sector standards.
And it would also match Liberal promises to pump billions more into health care and education, including full-day kindergarten in all schools by 2014.
Taxpayers would get immediate relief in 2012 when the provincial portion of the HST would be stripped from home heating and hydro bills, as well as the debt retirement charge on electricity bills. Eco fees on electronics and other household items would also disappear.
Other tax cuts would be phased in over four years, including lowering income taxes by five per cent on the first $75,000 of taxable income that the Tories say would save $258 a year for someone earning $70,000.
Couples would also be able to share up to $50,000 of their income for tax purposes, which would save almost $1,400 a year for a family earning $70,000.
Hudak said his party can meet all its promises and rebalance the books by rooting out waste, forcing unions to compete for government contracts and trim government spending in non-essential areas by two per cent a year.
The Tories are currently leading in public opinion polls and hope their theme of change will persuade voters to return the party to power in Ontario after eight years of Liberal rule.
