Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott says Ontario is fulfilling promises made during the campaign.
Scott spoke with My Haliburton Now.com following the release of the Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review. Scott, who is also the Minister of Labour, says that Doug Ford and the Conservative Party have saved Ontarians $3.2 billion so far. These savings Scott attributes to stopping Cap-and-Trade and cutting wasteful spending across the province.
Another item that came from the fiscal review was the announcement that low-income families were going to be getting a tax break. Scott says this means that individuals who earn less than $30,000 a year will pay no provincial income tax, which Scott says checks off another campaign promise to help the lower income families. Scott says that throughout the campaign they heard that life was unaffordable, adding that the tax cut is giving a break to those that need it.
After the news of the tax cut, some people felt that cancelling the minimum wage increase would have been a better alternative to a tax break. Scott responded to that claim by saying that the problem with the minimum wage increase was that it was increased by 21% in less than a year making small businesses have to reduce hours and raise prices to make their bottom line. Scott says that the Ontario Government is going to look at a minimum wage increase based on inflation.
Scott reassured that higher hydro bills, increased labour costs, and increase gas prices all make the cost of living go up. She adds that cutting programs and the other decisions they’ve made are to put money back into the pockets of Ontarians.