TORONTO

The path to job creation begins with the elimination of the provincial deficit and up to $5 billion in tax cuts, PC Leader Tim Hudak says.

Ontarians will be asked if they would like that tax relief in the form of a 10% to 15% cut in income tax, a two-point reduction in the HST or a lowering of the corporate tax rate to 8%, he said.

"We believe tax cuts create jobs," Hudak said Thursday, on the release of a PC Party white paper on jobs and the economy.

The Tories would balance the books sooner than the current Liberal plan of 2017-18 by reducing spending, including cuts to public sector jobs, he said.

"We actually will have to have fewer people working in government," Hudak said. "There's no doubt about that."

The Conservative vision for job creation differs greatly from that of the New Democrats who rolled out their own consultation document Thursday.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath rejects broad-based corporate tax breaks, proposing targeted tax credits to companies which can prove they will use the funds to create jobs.

"No-strings-attached tax giveaways and the HST were supposed to create 600,000 new jobs," Horwath said. "Instead, they've created new burdens for households and left us with declining productivities."

Premier Dalton McGuinty said the Tories would fire public servants, cut services and rip up collective agreements - a short term solution which would not provide lasting savings.

"The NDP don't want to make any choices," he said, claiming that Horwath would give public servants raises and be forced to hike taxes or cut services.