THUNDER BAY – The Ontario Federation of Labour says that a majority of Ontarians are ready for an election. “Ontarians from every riding in the province are solidly opposed to the unfairness of McGuinty’s budget and they are ready to go back to the polls to demand fair taxation, says a new poll conducted by Public Polling Inc. on behalf of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL),” states OFL President Sid Ryan.

“This poll bears out what I’ve been hearing right across political spectrum: that people are jaded, tired and disappointed with the McGuinty Liberals,” said OFL President Sid Ryan. “People are appalled by the gross unfairness of a budget that exclusively targets working families, children, seniors and people on welfare and disability pensions while corporations get a free ride.”

The OFL did an interactive voice response telephone poll of 843 people across the province this Thursday. The poll is considered accurate plus or minus 3.38 percent, 19 times out of 20. The poll found that over two thirds of respondents – 68 percent – would like to see corporations pay their fair share to help reduce the provincial deficit, with 19 percent opposed and 13 percent uncertain.

Almost as strongly, 58 percent of Ontarians supported returning corporate tax rates to 14 percent and 74 percent said they support raising taxes for individuals earning over $250,000 a year. But perhaps most concerning to the McGuinty Liberals, and most telling for opposition parties, is the fact that 58 percent of Ontarians support taking the issue of fair taxation to a provincial election.

“This is troubling news for the McGuinty Liberals because they have misjudged public opinion and Ontarian’s appetite for corporate tax cuts, but it is even more worrisome for Tim Hudak because the Conservatives have been campaigning on making taxation even more unequal. If an election were called tomorrow, the party that with the most to gain is Andrea Horwath and the NDP,” said Ryan.