On May 29, the McGuinty Liberals voted en masse against Bill 78,
ditching a golden opportunity for innovative legislation and leadership to help
our greying population. Bill 78, my private members? bill, would have created a
province-wide, provincially administered property tax deferral system for
low-income seniors and low-income disabled persons.
For many of us, the most significant investment we will ever make is the
purchase of a home. However, every year
across this province, skyrocketing property assessment and tax rates threaten our
investment. All too often such increases
force low-income seniors and disabled persons to leave the homes they live in
and raised their children in because they can no longer afford to pay the taxes
on their properties.
A home is a source of pride, familiarity and offers seniors and disabled
persons a genuine sense of dignity which is important to all of us regardless
of age or ability. Most seniors and
disabled persons I know in our community of Thornhill want to be independent,
stay in their homes and have financial freedom.
Property tax deferral programs are currently offered at the provincial
level in British Columbia, Prince
Edward Island and Nova
Scotia. However, in Ontario,
property tax deferral programs are only offered at the municipal level. This
has created a patchwork of programs that put strain on municipal revenue
streams: they aren?t user-friendly and have low participation rates with very
limited effectiveness. It is time for Ontario
to join British Columbia, Nova
Scotia and Prince Edward
Island by introducing a harmonized province-wide property
tax deferral system for those who need it most.
Dalton McGuinty?s Liberals believe it is acceptable to continue with
this patchwork system. They call Bill 78
downloading to municipalities despite the fact it actually uploads the
responsibility for property tax deferral programs from municipalities. They say Bill 78 favours the rich and claim that
seniors would prefer the Liberal idea of $250 assistance to the thousands of
dollars this bill would have provided in real property tax relief for
beleaguered seniors and disabled persons.
I and my colleagues in the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
believe it is time for the McGuinty Liberal government to put seniors ahead of partisanship
and political opportunism. It is time to
turn the page on McGuinty Liberal persecution of seniors in Ontario.