Tim Hudak’s ‘million jobs plan’ sounds good, but does it add up?

TORONTO—Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has promised to create about one million jobs over eight years if he wins the June 12 election.

What he didn’t mention is that 523,000 of those jobs are expected to be created anyway.

Here’s how he plans to create the rest:

• Eliminate 100,000 jobs in public sector over four years, then keep it in line with population growth. This would eventually help create 43,184 jobs over the following four years.

• Abolish the College of Trades and eliminate restrictions on the skilled trades. Hudak does not say how this would create the expected 170,240 jobs.

• Reduce corporate taxes to eight per cent, down from the current 11.5 per cent, which is forecast to create 119,808 jobs.

• Reduce personal income tax by 10 per cent after the budget is balanced in 2016-2017. Somehow this is expected to create 47,080 jobs.

• Put the province in charge of all rail-based transit and major highways in the Greater Toronto Area; establish a new east-west express line connecting Etobicoke to Scarborough, through Toronto’s downtown. Expand major highways and GO Transit. He says this would create 96,000 jobs, but seems to fly in the face of reducing public sector employment.

• Lower energy prices by cutting the bureaucracy at Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation; end subsidies for wind and solar power and reduce the number of provincial electricity agencies. This is slated to create 40,384 jobs.

• Cut regulations on business, such as so-called “eco-fees” for recycling, which would create 84,800 jobs.

• Developing the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, which would create 4,400 jobs.

• Participate in free trade agreement with British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, which would create 1,592 jobs.