Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory says he would expand the use of ankle monitoring bracelets on violent criminals if he's elected premier on Oct. 10.
Tory says he would spend $6 million to create a program that would buy and use 500 of the electronic devices, which use global positioning technology to track offenders.
He says the bracelets would be made available as a condition of parole for criminals convicted of serious crimes such as homicide, sexual assault and gun offences.
"If a sexual predator is ordered not to be visit areas with school-aged children, this will help to keep that person away," Tory said on Friday morning. "If a domestic abuser is ordered to stay away from a home, this will help police to ensure that he complies with that order. If a gang member is ordered to stay away from gang hangouts, this will help to stop violations before they start."
The Conservative leader says judges would decide whether they want to use the ankle bracelets to monitor criminals while they are out on parole or bail.
Tory made the announcement from the troubled Jane and Finch corridor in north Toronto where 11-year-old Ephraim Brown was fatally shot by a stray bullet last July.
He said parents in Toronto's troubled neighbourhoods are afraid to let their children outside to play there are so many shootings.
Tory says a Conservative government would also hire 50 more Crown attorneys to help alleviate Ontario's backlogged justice system.
He also pledged to double the resources of the OPP ROPE squad, which tracks offenders on the run from provincial or federal correctional authorities.
McGuinty promises property tax grant for seniors
Also campaigning in Toronto, McGuinty promised to provide Ontario's low- and middle-income seniors a property tax grant of up to $500 a year.
Seniors earning less than $35,000 annually would receive the full $500, he said.
Couples who own their own home would qualify for a grant if their income is less than $60,000. Those under $45,000 would get the maximum of $500, McGuinty said.
"Everything we do today is only possible because of what our seniors have done before us, and for us,'' the Liberal leader said.
"We have a shared responsibility to ensure our seniors can lead healthy, active lives and, when they prefer, independent lives in their own home.''
Tory, McGuinty's chief rival, is promising a five per cent annual cap on property assessments to protect seniors. Tory says seniors are being punished by skyrocketing assessments.
McGuinty, however, said the Liberal government has brought fairness to a damaged property-tax system left behind by the previous Conservative government,
"The Conservatives made a heck of a mess of it over the course of eight years,'' he said. "We're brought, finally, some real stability and predictability and fairness to the property tax system.''
McGuinty said his government has ensured that assessments are only done every four years, and any hikes are phased in over that period to cushion the shock of an increase.
At the same time, any decrease in assessment is implemented right away, he said.
Hampton vows to protect workers
Campaigning in Kitchener, NDP Leader Howard Hampton said his government would introduce tough new measures to help protect workers facing layoffs.
He proposes longer layoff notice periods and mandatory job adjustment committees for mass layoffs of 50 or more jobs, and one-year notice from companies to allow time for the province to intervene and help negotiate a closure agreement.
"In almost every case, companies know well in advance when they might be making decisions like that,'' Hampton said, speaking in front of the now-closed BF Goodrich plant.
"The one-year notice allows workers, communities and governments to come together to look at alternatives.''
The NDP leader is also pledging to double severance packages to two weeks' pay for every year worked and to remove the 26-week severance cap.
"These provisions exist in many other jurisdictions,'' Hampton said.
He accused McGuinty of acting in the interests of global corporations instead of Ontario communities and workers.
"Much of the job loss that's happening in Ontario should have been prevented if we had an activist government," Hampton said. "But in fact, the McGuinty government is prepared to sit there and let global corporations do whatever they want."
The Liberals, however, say they've created 350,000 net new jobs since taking office, with the unemployment rate falling from 7.0 to 6.4 per cent.
They point out that under the NDP government in the early 1990s, 100,000 manufacturing jobs were lost, 14 mills closed and unemployment soared to 10 per cent.
With a report from CTV's Janice Golding and files from The Canadian Press
