LIBERAL PROMISES

Liberal promises

IS LIBERAL LEADER Dalton McGuinty really ``blue light,'' a watered-down version of Premier Mike Harris who would change the pace but not the direction of Tory policies?

The answer is Yes and No.

In some areas - notably, the income tax cut, the amalgamation of Toronto, the break-up of Ontario Hydro, the Lands for Life deal, and the repeal of the NDP ban on replacement workers - McGuinty would keep Tory policies in place.

But in others, McGuinty is promising a dramatic U-turn that would create new headaches for a public that was just getting used to the Tories' changes. Some examples from the Liberal platform:

1. ``Scrap'' the Tory funding formula for schools.

This is not as drastic as it sounds. The Liberals do not intend to go back to the old formula, which saw the province paying less than half the cost of education, and local school boards raising the majority of their funds by taxing their ratepayers. But McGuinty would give the boards back some taxing power - up to 10 per cent of the total education budget. That could mean up to $1.3 billion a year in additional property taxes, a hefty new burden for ratepayers.

To offset the impact, McGuinty has also promised to reverse the downloading of ambulance services. But that would save ratepayers just $200 million annually. The Liberals say not to worry, because their own plans to increase funding for schools, plus political pressure on the trustees, will keep the boards from making full use of the new taxing power.

2. Halt the expansion of gambling in Ontario.

The Tories plan to launch four new mini-casinos (in Sault Ste. Marie, Brantford, Thunder Bay and Sarnia) and introduce slot machines at 13 racetracks around the province.

The problem, for the Liberals, is that these plans are well advanced. The slot machines are already in use at the Windsor Raceway and will be introduced this summer at Mohawk in Campbellville and this fall at Toronto's Woodbine. Millions have already been spent on renovations at those two sites.

The horse-racing industry is counting on the slots for survival. In Windsor, betting on the races is up 20 per cent per race since the slots were introduced.

As for the mini-casinos, Sault Ste. Marie will open next month and Brantford in the fall. Sarnia and Thunder Bay are further off, but design work is already under way.

And as is the case with the slots at the tracks, there is a client group counting on the new casinos: a long list of charities has been guaranteed $100 million a year in revenues from the gaming tables.

The Liberals say they won't shut down new facilities that are already open or well down the pipeline. That would seem to spare Sault Ste. Marie, Brantford, Windsor, Mohawk and Woodbine, but it leaves the rest in doubt.

3. ``Reopen'' Women's College Hospital.

It hasn't actually closed. But it has been amalgamated with Sunnybrook, by an act of the Legislature. And the plan is to make the Women's College facility on Grenville St. an ambulatory care site by moving overnight services to Sunnybrook on Bayview Ave. The Liberals would kill that plan and untie the knot between Sunnybrook and Women's College.

But preliminary work has already begun on a $115 million expansion of Sunnybrook to accommodate the Women's College patients, and the integration of the two hospital staffs is well under way. It would be a messy divorce.

4. Return school principals to the teachers' unions.

A year ago, this proposal might have met with favour from the principals, who had just been removed from the protection of the teachers' unions by Bill 160 and were feeling vulnerable. Now, however, a majority of principals would likely oppose a return to the unions.

Many rank-and-file teachers also prefer the current arrangement, with its clear demarcation between management and staff, because it is easier for them to proceed with grievances against decisions by the principals.

The Liberals say that they would listen to arguments from the principals and teachers and weigh their merits before acting on this promise.

5. ``Restore'' rent controls.

The Liberals say they would not revert to the old NDP law, which the landlords hated and the Tories scrapped. But they would cap rent increases on vacant apartments, which the Tories decontrolled.

The landlords say the decontrol of vacant apartments is necessary for them to raise money for capital improvements. The only alternative, they say, is to allow capital expenditures to be completely passed on to existing tenants in the form of higher rents. The Liberals say they haven't considered that.

In all of the above, the Liberals would find that making a promise is one thing; keeping it is something else again.

Ian Urquhart is The Star's provincial affairs columnist.