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The next minimum-wage hike, planned for 2019, should be postponed, as promised. Instead, the government should undertake a review on how best to support low-income workers. A better idea could be wage tax credits for low-income workers, which would be the best way of implementing the PCs’ promise of removing taxes on low-wage workers.

The energy sector needs an overhaul. Past expensive contracts for wind and solar power resulted in higher rates, hurting both households and businesses. These lessons have still not been learned: interventions in energy markets have continued unabated. Since Ford has vowed to kill cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions, the key is to develop the most cost-effective emissions policies, not to heap unnecessary costs on energy users. The PCs should rely less on regulations to achieve environmental goals.

Housing regulations should be reviewed to quicken approval processes for constructing homes. Ontario has also gone overboard with green-space planning. Housing has become increasingly expensive as land prices rise. Across the Greater Toronto area and beyond, land-intensive detached homes, the ones people want most, are out of the reach for many younger and immigrant families. And rent controls are destined to prove a disaster in the long run as supply dries up and rental-housing quality suffers due to lack of investment. They must be rolled back.

Ontario needs to overhaul its tax system to make it more growth-oriented. Corporate taxes and business subsidies should be reformed to reduce rates and broaden the corporate tax base. A corporate income tax rate cut of 1.5 percentage points to the current manufacturing and resource tax rate of 10 per cent would be well timed in light of U.S. tax reform. Ontario should discuss with the federal government other corporate-tax adjustments, including broadening the tax base to make the corporate tax more neutral. If the government couples that with a reduction in the numerous business subsidies and tax credits that were a favourite tool of the Liberals, the revenue loss could be minimized.