Ontario's politicians came to work Monday ready to battle over the Ontario Progressive Conservatives' platform — tax cuts and deficit spending in particular.

Ontario finance critic Vic Fedeli kicked off question period by talking about the PCs' plan to cut the middle-income tax bracket rate by 22.5 per cent — and asking why the government won't do the same.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa shot back that Fedeli has long advocated for balanced budgets, yet the conservatives would drive the province back into a deficit.

"That is their plan," said the finance minister, who is often heard trumpeting the government's recent return to balance after the recession. "They’re taking the province into deficit going forward."

The PC platform projects a $2.8-billion dollar deficit in its first year, which in part comes from a costly transition from a cap-and-trade system to a carbon tax. Then, a PC government will run surpluses — costed out in the platform at $8 million in year two, $521 million in year three and $727 million surplus in year four — which it would achieve by cancelling the government's Climate Change Action Plan spending, and conducting a value-for-money audit that results in an across-the-board cut of 2 per cent of government spending, which has yet to be identified.

Sousa told reporters that the government is already finding a billion dollars of government savings every year, and he's concerned the PCs' plan to find further efficiencies would affect services for Ontarians — or, if a PC government couldn't cut enough, it would run further deficits.

The Liberals have added up the value-for-money audit savings and the cancelled Action Plan spending and dubbed it $12 billion of "hidden" cuts to services.

That line was used repeatedly by Deputy Premier Deb Matthews in question period.

"Speaker, if you turn to page 76 in the magazine that was released this weekend, you will see, in as small a font as possible, $12 billion in cuts," she said, referring to the page of the platform that contains the PCs' costing of their plans. "Make no mistake about it, Speaker: The very services that families are counting on are threatened with cuts. We’ve seen it before. It’s a fine tradition in that party — $12 billion in cuts."

PC MPP Todd Smith denied that's accurate, and retorted that the Liberal caucus struggles with math — but for what it's worth, the Liberals' arithmetic is correct, it's whether one would characterize that $12 billion as service cuts or savings that is a matter of debate.

"Liberals struggle with anything that has to do with dollars and cents, I mean, look what they've done to our economy and our financial state here in Ontario. The debt is now closing in on $325 billion — I mean, this is a Liberal party that hasn't done anything good fiscally," Smith said.

However, Smith then went on to misstate the deficit the PC government would run in its first year — he said it would be $11 billion, rather than the $2.8 billion listed in their platform.

"It's really hard, as a fiscal conservative, to look at an $11 billion shortfall in your first year, but we realize as well, that the Liberals have put us into as well," he said. "If we're fortunate enough to form government next year, that's going to be a difficult year."

Smith corrected himself, after confirming the correct deficit figure with a staff member.

Overall, a PC government would spend about $1.5 billion more than it takes in in revenue over the course of its mandate — at least according to the costing included in the platform. In the latter years, however, it says a PC government would pay down at $1 billion of the provincial debt and would have a policy to put reserve funds and surpluses toward the debt.

Sousa said that just doesn't add up.

"The first step in managing debt is to eliminate the deficit and control your debt through the measures that we're taking now," Sousa said.

He also defended his government's borrowing for infrastructure spending.

"You've got to plan for those program investments," he said. "Every dollar we invest in infrastructure gives us six dollars back in our GDP growth. That growth in our GDP is just as important as managing and controlling our debt so we can afford those things. And our debt-to-GDP is actually going down to 37 per cent and going further."

Parties spar over deficit spending and cuts in Progressive Conservative platform

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