Ontario Liberals highlight past, future S&T actions while opposition parties largely silent

If the Ontario election on October 6th was fought on the parties' stands on science and technology, research and innovation, the Liberal Party would win in a landslide. Of the three major parties, the governing Liberals are the only ones to even provide lip service, highlighting actions taken during their tenure in the areas of clean energy, higher education and increased foreign direct investment.

In contrast, the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) and the New Democratic Party (NDP) do not mention science, research or innovation in their election platform documents, opting instead to trumpet the benefits of corporate and middle-income tax cuts (PC) and the elimination of "corporate tax giveaways" (NDP).

While all three parties have placed the emphasis on wooing middle-class, suburban voters with ‘more money in your pocket' pledges, they differ wildly in how to achieve greater prosperity. The Liberals see the solution in strategic investments in technology and knowledge skills, while the PCs propose eliminating Liberal-initiated spending initiatives. They have been particularly critical of the decision to award $7 billion in contracts with Samsung and Korea Electric Power Corp to bring solar and wind technology and jobs to the province. The PCs have also pledged to make time-of-use hydro meters voluntary and remove the HST from hydro bills.

The Liberal Party, in addition to touting its record of investments in high-tech, clean energy and tax reduction to attract new investments by foreign multinationals, is proposing new initiatives such as a new tax credit for angel investment and a 30% undergraduate tuition grant for middle-income families.

The NDP have pledged to cancel planned Liberal cuts to the corporate tax rate, and remove HST from home heating bills. The platform is silent on plans for the higher education sector.

On the subject of the Ontario's worrisome budget shortfalls, all parties are in lockstep, pledging to eliminate the deficit by 2017. The decision by the opposition parties not to challenge or alter the Liberal timetable for deficit elimination is a reflection of the precarious state of the province's manufacturing sector and the increasingly likely scenario of a double-dip recession.

While there are few details on the Liberal pledge to create an angel tax credit, the party platform does commit to triple the number of start-up companies over the next five years using incentives.

In the area of seniors health, the platform also commits to "refocus a portion of the province's research investments to support the prevention, treatment and possible cure of conditions such as Alzheimer's and related dementias".

The Liberal pledge that prompted the controversial reaction from the PCs is a proposal to offer firms a $10,000 tax credit for hiring foreign-trained immigrant professions. The PCs initially characterized the $12-million tax credit program as discriminatory against Canadian workers but after charges of xenophobia, it now describes the credit as an "affirmative action policy".

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