NDP could form Ontario government: Prue

Beaches-East York MPP Michael Prue is readying for battle this fall as he plans to seek a fourth term in office.

The seasoned NDP MPP and former East York mayor said he still has much to do in politics including helping low-income residents and building transit infrastructure in the riding.

“The business that I have remains unfinished,” he said. “It hasn’t been possible for me to implement the goals and dreams I’ve set for myself.”

While he has spent 10 years at Queen’s Park he’s never sat on the government side.

But in this election, Prue hopes to change that.

“There’s a pretty good chance we can find ourselves in government,” he said. “With the collapse of the Liberal Party, they’re going to have a hard time retaining their position.”

He said the NDP is currently looking at 40–50 ridings where they anticipate a possible win, hoping to replicate the results of the orange surge in the federal election.

Prue says several components of the NDP’s platform will appeal to Ontarians, such as removing a portion of the HST from gasoline, home heating fuel and hydro.

“We looked at the things in the HST that are hurting people the most,” he said. “If you could remove part or all of the eight percent provincial portion, then you can help people better balance their budgets.”

Prue took a jab at premier Dalton McGuinty for canceling portions of Transit City to accommodate a Sheppard subway extension without a clear funding model.

“All it took was the election of a guy who knows nothing about transit, and now they’re building holes where there doesn’t need to be holes,” he said, referring to Mayor Rob Ford.

“I would stand up to people like that, I wouldn’t cave in,” Prue said. “The premier did not do Toronto a service.”