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NDP outlines bucket list for the Liberals

During a stop in Sudbury on Sunday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath outlined her party's list of what needs to be in Thursday's budget to gain NDP support.
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The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce is objecting to the wording of three referendum questions related to store hours in Greater Sudbury. The questions are expected to be part of the ballot in the 2014 municipal election. File photo.

During a stop in Sudbury on Sunday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath outlined her party's list of what needs to be in Thursday's budget to gain NDP support.

Speaking to reporters at Tom Davies Square, Horwath was in town to speak at the Day of Mourning ceremony, where she added her voice to calls for a provincial mining inquiry.

However, she stopped short of adding it to the list of demands her party is making to ensure support for the Liberal's budget.

“We were pretty clear a while back about what our requests were for the budget,” Horwath said. “This is something we will continue to put pressure on the government ... but it would be inappropriate to stack on all kinds of new pieces to hold up the budget.”

When asked to outline her requests to Premier Kathleen Wynne regarding NDP conditions for supporting the budget, Horwath responded with her party's broad list of demands:

“If the budget gets results for people, in terms of youth unemployment, in terms of affordability of life with auto insurance rates going down; if it fixes our home-care system, with a five-day home care guarantee; if it closes corporate tax loopholes to make sure we're not throwing good money after bad, or that we're opening new corporate tax loopholes, to let corporations write off their GST on entertainment and wining and dining their clients; and instead invests in things that make a difference for ordinary people, then we can support it.”

Most polls show no party would win a majority government if a new election is called, although Horwath is consistently rated as the most popular leader, followed by the Liberal's Wynne and Tory Leader Tim Hudak.

Polls have also shown most Ontarians don't want another election just two years after the last one.

That puts Horwath in the tricky position of not wanting to help the current government hang on in hopes of regaining popularity, but also not wanting to force the province into another election the population doesn't want.

So Horwath said she will stick to her conditions and wait to see what Finance Minister Charles Sousa comes up with Thursday.

“We don't know whether we're going to be able to support the budget," she said. “If we don't see those kinds of results for people in the budget, then we won't support it.”

“So on Thursday, we'll get a sense of what the budget says. We'll take some time to review it and we'll see.”

In her remarks on the Day of Mourning, she said an inquiry is long overdue.

“It's time to do something,” she told a packed city council chamber. “It's been 35 years since the government looked at the mining industry.”

She chastised the Liberals for refusing to support the call from the Mining Inquiry Needs Support (MINES) committee, which formed after the deaths of two men at Vale's Stobie Mine in 2011.

Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, were killed while working at the 3,000-foot level when they were overcome by a run of 350 tons of muck. The victims' families sit on the committee, which is chaired by Wendy Fram, Jordan's mother.

“These accidents were preventable,” Horwath said. “It's time for answers. It's time for action ... That's how we mourn for the dead and fight for the living.”

She said mining has changed dramatically in 30 years, with technology revolutionizing the industry and new ownership that is international, not Canadian. The need for a fresh examination of mining is clear, Horwath added.

“There hasn't been a review or change to (mining) legislation in more than 30 years,” she said.

“That's why we continue to see people's lives put at risk in the mines. That's not acceptable.

“So it's wait and see to see whether the new premier will take a new path in terms of health and safety ... I certainly hope so.”


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Darren MacDonald

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