Bogus NDP Bonus Bill Concocted to Mislead Ontarians Ahead of By-Elections

Artificial NDP bill freezes pay for just 30 of 9,000 employees

QUEEN'S PARK, ON, Aug. 30, 2012 /CNW/ - The Horwath NDP is misleading Ontarians ahead of two by-elections with a bogus wage freeze bill that affects less than 1% of OPS employees and eliminates executive compensation measures already implemented, said Liberal MPP Dwight Duncan.

"The Horwath NDP wrote this on the back of a napkin and rushed it out the door to mislead Ontarians during the by-election," said Duncan.   "We support the spirit of the bill, but the flawed NDP proposal exempts all but 30 employees in the Ontario Public Sector and overrides executive wage freeze measures already implemented in the spring budget."

"The NDP is running away as fast as they can from any government measures to limit public sector compensation increases," said Duncan.   "They want to take money out of our kids' classrooms to pay for $473 million in teacher pay hikes, and now they're backtracking on their own pledge to freeze executive compensation."

Duncan was referring to the NDP's Performance Pay and Bonuses in the Public Sector Act (Management and Excluded Employees), 2012.  The Bill:

• Only covers contracted employees - which applies to fewer than 30 of almost 9000 OPS employees - or 0.33%
  
  
• Overrides executive compensation freeze measures contained in the 2012 Budget Bill - meaning the  executive compensation freeze becomes null and void
  
  
• Does not capture base pay - which means base pay could be increased

"The NDP bill is flawed, it's incomplete, it's one-sided, and it's designed for the by-elections next week," said Duncan.    "Ontario Liberals will bring forward a comprehensive plan for this important public policy challenge that is in the best interests of all Ontarians."

"Only Ontario Liberals are taking real action on executive compensation and ending sick day payouts so we can balance the budget and protect the gains we've made in education and health care," said Duncan.

SOURCE: Liberal Caucus Service Bureau

Liberal Caucus Service Bureau
416-325-9300