Promises in platform wouldn't be broken: Tory

The Provincial Conservatives revealed an election platform full of promises for a better Ontario Saturday, and leader John Tory said that if his party wins October's race, he'll keep every one of them.

The 52-page election platform uses the taglines "for a better Ontario,'' and "leadership matters'' and outlines bulleted-points within four key sections: investing in stronger communities, fairness for families, a government that works, and building for Ontario's future.

Tory said he didn't count how many promises are outlined in his platform, although his strategists said there are about 100, but added that he's confident he wouldn't have to break any as premier.

"People can count these things up, I think what we have here is a comprehensive, achievable, realistic plan,'' Tory said.

"Like every other plan I've had the responsibility for implementing, every other place I've been, this will be implemented. I wouldn't put forward a plan I didn't think I could achieve.''

Tory defended the long list of promises, even though the opposition has often criticized Premier Dalton McGuinty for breaking many of the campaign pledges he made during the lead up to last election in 2003.

"What we tried to do here is come up with that most difficult of all answers ... which is what's too much, what's too little,'' Tory said.

"If we put nothing underneath those (four) headings or just one point each I think (the media) and perhaps taxpayers would have said, `Well, we don't know enough about what you mean by that.'''

Here's a sample of what Tory said Ontario can expect if they elect the Conservatives:

Fiscal:

• Phase out the 'health' tax, a controversial premium imposed by the Liberals
• Replace high taxes by finding savings from making the provincial government 2 per cent more efficient over the next four years.
• Put a 5 per cent cap on annual home assessment increases for as long as an individual owns their home
• Appoint chief financial officers for tracking and managing money. Create an independent Legislative Budget Office that will prevent the government from distorting budget numbers.
• Move 10 per cent of the government office space in Toronto, about 1.1 million square feet, and thousands of jobs to smaller communities.

Environment:

• Set strong short-term and long-term targets for the province -- 10 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 60 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050 -- to reduce greenhouse gases created in Ontario, which is responsible for approximately 30 per cent of Canada's emissions.
• Move immediately to clean up Ontario's coal-fired power plants.
• Purchase more green power for government use, make new government buildings 30 per cent more energy efficient, reduce energy use in our offices by a further 10per cent over four years, and eliminating high-emission government vehicles.
• Create a special commission to make current environmental legislation work faster and more efficiently.

Healthcare:

• Increase health care investments so that by the fourth year of a PC government, spending will be $8.5 billion more than current annual spending
• Bring 35,000 care spaces up to standard, and eliminate three-bed and four-bed long-term care wards
• Have a 70 per cent full-time employment rate all registered nurses by 2010.

Education:

• Fix substandard schools -- many need extensive repairs and upgrades.
• Limit the homework burden on young children to ten minutes per grade level.
• Provide healthy exercise for students to fight rising obesity by increase compulsory physical activity until they graduate high school

Crime:

• Establish a registry to inform potential homeowners or renters if a property has been used as a drug grow-op.
• Advocate for the Youth Criminal Justice Act must be strengthened to reflect the new, violent reality of youth gangs.
• Implement a Truth and Transparency in the Justice System Act that would require annual public reports on the activities of Ontario's courts.

Poverty:

• Develop strategies to build new Co-op Housing, particularly in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
• Increase the minimum wage on a schedule that would give employers time to adjust and avoiding job losses, particularly for young people.
• Work with Ontario's Aboriginal peoples to address poor conditions in many Aboriginal communities.

Infrastructure:

• A five-year action plan across the GTA, building more transit where it is needed most.
• Put an end to other communities around Toronto paying extra taxes to fund that city's government programs, and make the province responsible for the funding.

Arts and Culture:

• Provide $5 million in the first year, and $2.5 million annually to fund the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, which promotes cultural events.
• Establish a Premier's Council on arts and culture to create a more direct link between government and the creative community.
• Enable more private donations to the arts through the Ontario Arts and Culture Fund.

Deputy premier George Smitherman said the platform is more like a draft since the Conservatives didn't attach a price tag to its list of promises, which the Liberals added up as 230.

Tory said he will release the full cost of his program after receiving a report from the auditor general on the government's finances.

"What they're really saying is, `Here's some ideas we have so far but check back with us later once the auditor general's come out and we'll let you know whether we actually intend to do any of these things,''' Smitherman said.

"It's like a trial balloon document that most obviously is going to have to be severely edited.''

New Democrat critic Paul Ferreira said the Conservative plan is a little too similar to the Liberal agenda and isn't much of an alternative.

"It again demonstrates that Dalton McGuinty and John Tory are one in the same: they both deliver hundreds of promises, they both are addicted to nuclear power, they both support the increased creeping of privatization into health care and education,'' Ferreira said.

"As far as I'm concerned there is no difference between this plan and the plan we've seen over the past four years.''

With a report from CTV's Austin Delaney and files from The Canadian Press