News:

Today Dalton McGuinty broke yet another promise when he betrayed an all-party agreement in order to kill an Ontario PC motion that would have allowed all MPPs to freely vote on delaying the implementation of the HST.

All three Ontario political parties had an agreement-in-principle to a ‘programming motion’ which would have allowed the Ontario PC Caucus to introduce a single motion on an issue of important public policy. After learning the Ontario PC Caucus intended to introduce a motion that recalled Dalton McGuinty’s promise not to raise taxes without the consent of Ontarians and calling for the HST to not be implemented until after the next provincial election, McGuinty quickly backtracked on his handshake deal.

This is the third time in a week that the McGuinty Liberals have been caught playing dirty political tricks with Ontario’s democratic rules. Previously the Liberals were caught leaking confidential legislative information as part of an unprecedented smear campaign against Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin and blocking Opposition MPPs from taking their seats on Budget Day.

Quotes:

– Lisa MacLeod, Ontario PC MPP for Nepean – Carleton and critic for Revenue and Accountability

– John Yakabuski, Ontario PC MPP for Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke and Opposition House Leader

Quick Facts:

The Ontario PC Motion that Dalton McGuinty broke his promise to kill reads as follows:

“That, in light of Premier McGuinty telling Ontario families the HST will be revenue-neutral when he knew all along “there will be an increase in taxation” as a result of it; the Legislative Assembly of Ontario calls upon the McGuinty government to delay implementation of the HST until a date following the next provincial general election.”