The governing Liberals will remain “steadfast” in their plans for the province — including running a deficit in the upcoming budget, said Kathleen Wynne who also accused the Progressive Conservatives of “making decisions on the fly.”

Speaking to reporters at a downtown restaurant about the province’s new $14 minimum wage, Wynne touted the move brought in by her party for 1 million Ontario workers — 600,000 of them women — calling it “critically important to families ... (and) part of a fair society.”

Noting the Liberals’ other initiatives to help struggling Ontarians, she said “the betrayal of those needs and stepping back from those needs and not acknowledging that there is a need to put the conditions in place ... to step back from that would be irresponsible.”

She said there will be no tweaks to the budget and “the party that’s making decisions on the fly is the Conservative party. We are absolutely steadfast in our plan ... we made an intentional decision, because we are in a very uncertain economy, that we need to continue to put those supports in place that create opportunity for people in the province.”

Finance Minister Charles Sousa said last week the province would unveil its 2018-19 budget on March 28, with a deficit that could come close to $8 billion.

During an interview on CBC’s Metro Morning, newly named PC Leader Doug Ford said “we have to be fiscally conservative to make sure we take care of the most vulnerable in society — the only way we can take care of them is making sure our finances are in order.”

He also told the broadcaster’s Ottawa Morning radio show that, if elected, the PCs will look for “efficiencies,” including measures such as having different ministries sharing procurements, and not the 40,000 job cuts the Liberals have said he will need to fulfil his promises.

“We are going to find efficiencies, drive efficiencies,” he said, which would have to be “just four cents on the dollar.”

The Liberals will again increase the minimum wage next year, to $15. Ford, however, said he would freeze it at the current $14 an hour.

His plan includes axing taxes for anyone making $30,000 or less, which would give the “most vulnerable people of this province” an extra $160 a month.

Ford also said that unlike the Liberals, which plan government-run cannabis stores, he would make sure it “is open to a fair market. I don’t like the government controlling anything.”

The one-term Toronto city councillor said the PC platform won’t be the “People’s Guarantee” as unveiled by former leader Patrick Brown — who resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct with young women — but rather “a pretty clear (vision)... it’s not going to be the people’s magazine version of 80-some odd pages.

“... It will be a shorter, more abbreviated form of our platform and I look forward to sending it out.”

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