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As the province’s Financial Accountability Office pointed out last week, there isn’t enough money in the Liberals’ future health-care plans to meet ever-increasing need, and that’s after a three-year, $6.9-billion boost announced just last year. If the government can’t afford the health coverage we have now, why in the world would the Liberals and NDP want to expand it? Other than to buy your votes, of course.

Pharmacare is far from the end of it. Horwath is promising a mandatory government dental insurance plan that is said to cost $1.2 billion. She also wants to forgive student loans, which would make chumps of the people who actually paid for their education. Displaying her financial acumen, Horwath also promises to spend billions of dollars buying back shares of Hydro One previously sold by the Liberal government. It’s not entirely obvious what benefit this would offer. If she wants to buy a power company, there are better ones available.

Photo by Chris Donovan / THE CANADIAN PRESS

We don’t know yet what the total cost of the NDP and Liberal platforms will be, but with a projected deficit in the neighbourhood of $8 billion, the Liberals have lots of borrowed money to spend. In effect, the Wynne plan is an offer to match or top elements of the now-abandoned PC platform. There will be more for mental health, more for long-term care, health care and child care.

One has an image of Wynne working late into the night with scissors and paste, converting the old PC platform into the new Liberal platform. It might have been a better strategy if the PCs were still running on that platform.