PC Leader Doug Ford, shown earlier this month in Sudbury, said Thursday that his family company would benefit “very little” from corporate tax cuts he is proposing.
PC Leader Doug Ford, shown earlier this month in Sudbury, said Thursday that his family company would benefit “very little” from corporate tax cuts he is proposing.
By Robert Benzie Queen's Park Bureau Chief, Rob Ferguson Queen's Park Bureau
Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne is charging that Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford only wants to cut corporate taxes because it would benefit wealthy people like himself.
One day after playing the Trump card against Ford, Wynne upped the ante by claiming the Tories’ plan to cut corporate income taxes from 11.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent is to help the rich.
“Doug Ford is a wealthy man. He has always been a wealthy man, so he thinks like a wealthy man,” she told reporters Thursday at Kensington Gardens, a long-term care facility in the Annex.
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“He … says he’s for the little guy. The reality is that lowering that corporate tax rate will help the big guy.”
Against the backdrop of a June 7 election that polls suggest Ford could win, Wynne noted a Tory government would “claw back that $15-an-hour minimum wage that we have already committed to” for next Jan. 1.
“That means that people who earn minimum wage will be worse off by about $1,100 under the scheme that he’s put forward,” she said, referring to Ford’s promise to freeze the hourly minimum wage at $14, but eliminate provincial income taxes for the lowest earners.
“So there’s a real contradiction there. He’s actually for the big guy.”
Ford is a multi-millionaire who inherited his family’s successful label business from his late father, Doug Ford, Sr., a former Tory MPP. Under his tenure, Deco Labels and Tags expanded its operations into the United States.
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NDP Leader Andrea Horwarth has promised to increase the corporate tax rate to 13 per cent if elected.
“We are already competitive. We have among the lowest corporate taxes in the country. That’s why we’re keeping it where it is.”
Her comments came the day after she compared Ford to U.S. President Donald Trump, calling the Tory leader a “bully” who “lies” on the campaign trail.
The rookie PC chief dismissed her strategy as “desperate.”
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Ford said Thursday in Etobicoke that businesses need the tax cut in order to “create great-paying jobs.”
At a Dixon Road hotel, he acknowledged his family company would benefit from his promised corporate tax cut, but estimated the benefit will be “probably very little.”
“My company will be in a blind trust. I will have nothing to do with my company,” said Ford.
“If anything, I’m losing money doing this job, but it’s worth it. I’m giving up a massive amount to serve the people of Ontario. That was my choice.”
Robert
Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter
covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie.
Rob
Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics
for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1.
