10 things Doug Ford says he'll do as Ontario premier
Premier-designate Doug Ford has outlined what he plans to do in his Plan For The People and, while there also have been a number of promises made during the campaign, here are some notable ones that that might have the most impact on day-to-day life in Toronto.
Here are 10 things Doug Ford says he'll do as Ontario premiere.
As a part of Ford's plan to give "real tax relief" to lower and middle class families, he says he'll implement a 20 per cent middle class income tax cut. He also plans to cut income tax for minimum wage workers, but is freezing minimum wage at $14 an hour.
Ford says he will reduce gas taxes by 10 cents a litre and diesel taxes by 10.3 cents a litre, at a cost of $1.19 billion per year.
Ford hates Hydro and say he'll cut bills by 12 per cent, fire Hydro One president and CEO Mayo Schmidt, return all Hydro One dividends to Ontario families and make it so that executives and board members can't receive big payouts if their jobs are terminated.
Ford says he will add $5 billion in new subway funding to build the Sheppard Loop to the Scarborough Town Centre, a downtown relief line from Pape station to Queen, an extension of the Yonge line north to Richmond Hill, and restore the Scarborough subway to three stops, which alone would cost more than the funding available for the project.
Ford has promised to reduce the minimum price floor for beer to $1 plus deposit per bottle, meaning we'd be able to buy 24 bottles of beer for $24, plus deposit. Ford also says he'll emulate Quebec and bring beer and wine to convenience and grocery stores.
Ford says he'll restore funding to anti-guns and gangs police units in Ottawa and Toronto to the cost of $3 million per year. In April, Ford told an audience he supported the idea of bringing back "controversial" police unit TAVIS that was dissolved over concerns of carding.
Ford plans to get rid of 'discovery math', ban cell phones in class, make math mandatory in teachers’ college, "fix" EQAO and put a different standardized testing program in place and bring back Ontario's old sex ed curriculum until a new one is put in place.
Ford wants to build 15,000 long-term care beds in five years and 30,000 beds in 10 years.
To "give parents a break," Ford says he'll create a 75 per cent refundable tax credit for child care costs, for children aged 0 - 15, "and respect parents by leaving to them the choice of what kind of child care is best for their kids."
Ford says he'll balance the provincial budget "on a responsible timeframe," but only after running a deficit in his first year.
Hector Vasquez
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