Tory pledges $200M for health care in 905 region

toronto.ctv.ca

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory appealed to voters in the
so-called 905 region Saturday by pledging $200 million annually for health care
there.

Tory claimed the Liberal government has neglected the fast-growing region
encircling Toronto for years, resulting in reduced services.

"Dalton McGuinty has refused to acknowledge the pressures faced by
Ontario’s fastest-growing communities, and as a result, residents are being
forced to seek treatments outside their own communities,” Tory said in Oshawa
on Saturday.

"Dalton McGuinty has allowed funding to fall behind population grown and
needs in this region,” he said from Lakeridge Hospital.

The funding, which would be implemented by 2012 if the Conservatives form
the government, is part of the PC plan to invest $8.5 billion into the
province’s health care system.

Tory has also promised to eliminate the controversial provincial health
care tax if elected on Oct. 10.

The levy was first introduced by McGuinty in 2004 — despite a 2003
campaign promise to not raise taxes — when the Liberal government was faced
with a $5.6 billion deficit.

The premium costs working Ontarians up to $900 each and is the
single largest tax increase in the province’s history, as reported by The Globe
and Mail.

McGuinty has said the province can’t afford to revoke the tax, which he
said has been used to hire more nurses and reduce wait times in the
province.

New Democratic Leader Howard Hampton promised Saturday that if his party
forms the government, it would spend $100 million annually to services for
children with autism.

The funding would go toward a program known as Intensive Behavioural
Intervention, which would see individual treatment for autistic children in
classrooms.

Hampton said as of March 31, 2007, there were 1,100 children in the
province waiting for autism treatment. The NDP plan would effectively clear the
three-year wait period for treatment.

"It will completely eliminate the waiting list for IBI treatment.
Children with autism will finally get the respect and the treatment they
deserve," Hampton said.

Funding autism treatment has been a contentious issue for the Liberal
government in the past. In the lead-up to the election, McGuinty promised to
spend an additional $12 million on specialized autism treatment.

Critics said the announcement wouldn’t cut into the province’s backlog
and didn’t address the issue of school-based therapy.

Hampton also criticized the spending of $2.4 million to fight the parents
of autistic children in court — the Liberal government tried to keep the cost
of that battle from the public.

Meanwhile, McGuinty continued his education-focused campaign by appealing
to university students in downtown Toronto on Saturday.

Speaking to a packed bar of young Liberals, McGuinty vowed to give
post-secondary students a tax credit at the start of each school year rather
than freeze or roll back tuition fees.

"We’re going to put in place, as of next September, a new text book and
technology grant of $300 for all full-time undergraduate students in Ontario,"
McGuinty said Saturday.

The Liberal leader also pledged to increase the amount of apprenticeship
programs in the province by 25 per cent.

He also vowed to appeal to Ottawa to extend the grace period for repaying
national student loans.

McGuinty hopes to extend the period from six months to a year, giving
fledgling graduates more time to establish themselves professionally.

Ontarians will take to the polls on Oct. 10.

With a report from CTV’s Naomi Parness and files from The Canadian
Press