LONDON, ONT. —Tim Hudak is stepping up his attacks on taxpayer handouts to corporations, calling them “crony capitalism” that is ripe for corruption but leaving the door open to “broad-based” aid like the auto industry bailout in 2009.

Taking aim at one of Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne’s signature strategies for creating jobs, the Progressive Conservative leader said his promised 30 per cent corporate tax cut is a better way with “the same rules for everybody.”

“‎The McGuinty-Wynne government gave millions of dollars to Kellogg’s for a plant in Belleville that employs about 100 workers,” he told a crowd of 150 people at a Chamber of Commerce lunch.

“The same Kellogg’s then turned around and closed down a hundred year old plant in London, laying off six times as many workers.”

The “corporate welfare” issue has become a focal point in the election, with Wynne visiting London this week to tout 120 jobs at a new Dr. Oetker pizza plant. Company officials credited $7 million in government support as a key reason for locating in the city, close to suppliers.

London has become a key battleground in the June 12 election, visited frequently by the party leaders with the PCs and NDP hoping to topple veteran MPP Deb Matthews – Wynne’s deputy premier and health minister – in London North Centre.

The Liberals said other jurisdictions in North America use financial aid to woo employers, so bowing out would leave Ontario at a disadvantage.

“Government has to partner with business,” Wynne told reporters in Toronto after charging earlier this week that Hudak’s no-grants approach is destructive.

Hudak said he would finance his corporate tax cut by scrapping Wynne’s $2.5 billion “corporate welfare slush fund,” which he described as a scandal-in-waiting because the money is “handed out at the sole discretion of Liberal politicians.”

Reducing the corporate tax rate to 8 per cent would give Ontario the lowest such levy on the continent and create 120,000 jobs, he claimed.

“I want to see business beating down the door,” Hudak said before heading to a campaign stop in Waterloo.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has said she favours job guarantees in exchange for corporate handouts.

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Critics say lower taxes do not necessarily lead to new jobs or investment, pointing to falling corporate taxes in the last few years and large piles of cash hoarded by some companies.

With files from Richard J. Brennan

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