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Among other initiatives the government was pursuing, Mr. Sousa said, there was the panel on Crown assets headed by former TD Bank boss Ed Clark. He then let loose a torrent of buzzwords. The panel would be “trying to maximize, leverage, monetize, improve the returns to the taxpayers, and to the shareholders, who basically are the taxpayers in those Crown corporations.”

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Moody’s changed its outlook on the province’s debt rating after the Liberals returned with a majority government, but the Liberals say the rating agencies are pleased with the election results.

“In fact, they have stated that one of the concerns that existed was the instability of government in order to implement the very things that we’re saying we want to propose,” said Finance Minister Charles Sousa.

“And having a majority mandate now gives us a little bit more initiative to implement things and expedite them more quickly than what we had before.”

But the Progressive Conservatives say the budget is just a “hodgepodge” of new programs and spending that Ontario can’t afford.

“We’re on a road like the Europeans and Greece were at one time where they ignored these warnings from the bankers and the credit raters and we can’t do that,” said interim Tory Leader Jim Wilson.

The New Democrats plan to vote against the budget, which some see as tailor-made for the party, even though it’s virtually certain to pass.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she’s concerned that the Liberals won’t address skyrocketing electricity costs and are planning to sell off provincial assets and lay off public sector workers as they struggle to slay the $12.5-billion deficit in three years.