[Admiral Beez]

Please vote. Vote strategically, for the party in your riding that can beat the party you don't want..

In support of that idea, if the NDP and OLP had any brains they would ensure not to split the no-Ford vote by not competing in ridings where one of them is likely to come a close second place to the PCs. OTOH, in ridings where the PCs have no chance, like my Toronto Centre riding, the NDP and OLP can fight it out without the risk of benefiting Ford through a split vote.

 

[Mihairokov]

Mainstreet is currently showing the decided breakdown as follows:

PC 36%
OLP 29%
NDP 23%
GPO 6%

Most noteworthy in this poll though is they polled for federal intentions and the LPC were ahead of the CPC in Ontario, which gives some credence to the numbers EKOS has been pushing out federally for the last week of a weakening conservative pull.

PDF: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/...d2b_Mainstreet_Ontario_Jan_25_2025_Public.pdf

 

[chrisw]

The Ontario NDP is promising to remove tolls from the privately owned Highway 407 for all drivers and initiate a potential purchase of the highway, Global News has learned, in a pre-election pitch to voters days before the writs are set to be issued.

Hopefully the Ontario Liberals don't jump on the bandwagon of purchasing the 407.

Ontario election: NDP says it would initiate purchase of Hwy. 407, remove tolls | Globalnews.ca

Ontario’s NDP is promising to remove tolls from the privately owned Highway 407 and initiate a potential purchase of the highway in a pre-election pitch to voters.

globalnews.ca

 

[Admiral Beez]

Hopefully the Ontario Liberals don't jump on the bandwagon of purchasing the 407.

Why purchase it? Just cancel the contract and take it. We were willing to cancel the Beer Store contract at a cost of 1/2 a billion.

 

[chrisw]

Why purchase it? Just cancel the contract and take it. We were willing to cancel the Beer Store contract at a cost of 1/2 a billion.

I'm quite sure that was negotiated and it was to cancel it a year early.

 

[PL1]

I'm quite sure that was negotiated and it was to cancel it a year early.

And we're roughly 1/4 into the 99 year lease on the 407. It would cost a lot to break that contract, foolish as it was in the first place

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

The 99-year lease of the ETR 407 started around 1999, which expires on or around 2098.

Instead of building an underground expressway under the 401, build the tunnels under the 407. Wouldn't it be cheaper and less disruptive to traffic? Wouldn't need the 413 either. (sarcastic)

 

[Admiral Beez]

And we're roughly 1/4 into the 99 year lease on the 407. It would cost a lot to break that contract, foolish as it was in the first place

Not necessarily. The law that created the 407 and the contract was written by Queen’s Park. Change the law, expropriate the highway, and give the buyers what they originally paid plus appreciation and interest. Otherwise, build a parallel highway to diminish their investment value.

 

[PL1]

Not necessarily. The law that created the 407 and the contract was written by Queen’s Park. Change the law, expropriate the highway, and give the buyers what they originally paid plus appreciation and interest. Otherwise, build a parallel highway to diminish their investment value.

I guess anything is possible, given redress. It seems expensive and unlikely, but who knows

 

[Northern Light]

Hopefully the Ontario Liberals don't jump on the bandwagon of purchasing the 407.

Ontario election: NDP says it would initiate purchase of Hwy. 407, remove tolls | Globalnews.ca

Ontario’s NDP is promising to remove tolls from the privately owned Highway 407 and initiate a potential purchase of the highway in a pre-election pitch to voters.

globalnews.ca

So lets get this right..............Bonnie Crombie is running on cutting Income Tax for the Upper Middle Class...........

And the NDP is running on buying out the lease of 407 to cut tolls for suburban drivers...........




Fine, can the PCs run on increasing taxes, boosting social assistance payments and the minimum wage? I mean someone ought to......

 

[chrisw]

So lets get this right..............Bonnie Crombie is running on cutting Income Tax for the Upper Middle Class...........

A 2% cut on those making 50-75k that was proposed doesn't sound that bad. Ontario has some income tax room with the $150k and $220k brackets since 2014. Inflation has been 30% since then.

 

[Northern Light]

A 2% cut on those making 50-75k that was proposed doesn't sound that bad. Ontario has some income tax room with the $150k and $220k brackets since 2014. Inflation has been 30% since then.

Ontario is running a deficit.

Those on Ontario Works (Social Assistance) get a mere $733 per month to cover all their expenses and got no inflationary increase this year.

The wait list for a Long Term Care bed is more than 2 years long.

TDSB schools are literally crumbling due to under investment, with perhaps 2 dozen 'prohibitive to repair', dozens lack air conditioning and many more aren't fully accessible.

Ontario contributes virtually nothing to the construction of deeply affordable housing, which is desperately needed.

***

In light of the above, and coming off a period of:

- Eliminating income tax for those making less than 50k.

- Eliminating license plate fees, saving most middle-income households $200 per year.

- Record low corporate and small business taxes

****

I find it very difficult to imagine that the logical priority of any Ontario government should be a further tax reduction.

I would argue strongly for an increase in the sales tax of 2 points to 15% to allow for investing in some of the areas I noted above.

We require about 4B a year to achieve budgetary balance.

Schools (primary/secondary) require at least 1.5B annually in new capital investment).

Reduced class sizes in middle school grades would cost another 1B+ per year.

Universities and Colleges need another 1.5B per year, to see the same level of per capita support as other provinces, and stop the financial hemorrhaging.

Raising Social Assistance rates, and reducing the poverty trap when someone on assistance gets a job is a 3B per year investment.

Long Term Care in Toronto needs 100M per year for construction of new beds.

Hospitals need another 1B per year in base budget just to address wait times for existing, covered procedures.

Modestly expanded health coverage for drugs, physio therapy and medical devices would run another 2B per year.

That's 14B per year and change which is 6B more than the sale tax increase would likely generate.


Just sayin.

 

[christiesplits]

Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie, who lacks a seat, is planning to run in Mississauga East-Cooksville, as per Colin D'Mello of Global.

 

[Mihairokov]

Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie, who lacks a seat, is planning to run in Mississauga East-Cooksville, as per Colin D'Mello of Global.

Notably, this riding was won by PC Kaleed Rasheed in 2018 who in 2023 resigned from caucus over the zoning orders controversy. He was sitting as an independent and is not running for re-election. Riding was previously Liberal from 2007 to 2018.

 

[Towered]

So lets get this right..............Bonnie Crombie is running on cutting Income Tax for the Upper Middle Class...........

And the NDP is running on buying out the lease of 407 to cut tolls for suburban drivers...........




Fine, can the PCs run on increasing taxes, boosting social assistance payments and the minimum wage? I mean someone ought to......

The Libs and NDP are making it oddly difficult for me to vote against Doug