Ontario PCs release ‘For The People’ plan, rivals pounce on lack of cost projections

After weeks of pledging to put forth a fully costed election platform, the Ontario Progressive Conservatives have published a detailed list of their campaign promises, but without providing a full fiscal plan.

In “For The People: A Plan for Ontario,” the party pledges billions in tax cuts for families and businesses, along with other spending, including reducing the cost of gas by 10 cents per litre and a $5-billion investment in transit.

While the plan includes price tags for individual initiatives, it doesn’t indicate what the total cost of the pledges would be, or present a multi-year fiscal outlook. Campaign officials wouldn’t say if more information would be released.

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When asked whether the information posted online on Wednesday was the party’s official costed plan, a spokesperson for the PCs told Global News: “This is our plan for the people. That’s the plan, throughout the campaign, this is what we’ve compiled.”

To pay for its plan, the party has said it would cut waste, audit government spending and save $270-million by cutting a business grants program, the Jobs and Prosperity Fund.

Ford has said a PC government would run deficits but return the books to balance before the end of its term.

A spokesman said the party, if elected, was committed to “returning to balance as quickly as we can.”

“We do not know the state of Ontario’s finances and anyone who tells you they do is lying to you,” he said.

READ MORE: 2018 Ontario election promise tracker: Here’s what the Liberals, PCs, NDP and Greens have pledged so far

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ontario NDP claimed the PCs were “hiding a costed platform.”

“Ford’s un-costed excuse for a plan does not include a fiscal framework, or a timeline for balancing the provincial budget,” the statement read.

Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne said the plan was not a costed platform and she claimed a PC government would have to cut projects and services.

“It’s not coherent and I really think that they’re not quite sure … how to talk about the fact that all of the things that Doug Ford has said would add up to a $40-billion hole.”

With files from Jessica Patton, Global News