Ontario Considers Ending Paid Day Off Policy For Employees

November 5, 2009 7:10 p.m. EST

Toronto, Ontario (AHN) - To help reduce the province's expected $24.7 billion budget deficit this year, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said he is considering removing the paid day off policy for public sector employees. The idea is likely to be vehemently opposed by Ontario workers.

McGuinty shared the idea on how to cut Ontario's financial shortfall on Wednesday with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which is holding its yearly economic summit.

The scheme is not new to Ontario workers. Former Ontario Premier Bob Rae instituted a similar policy in the 1990s when recession hit Canada.

It has the potential of setting of worker strike, like what happened in Ontario's capital city a few months ago when outdoor and indoor employees struck for about six weeks over a collective agreement dispute with Toronto, with employee paid days off as one of the key issues.

McGuinty also pushed for the harmonized sales tax, which is encountering some opposition from residents. He cited a report released by tax expert Jack Mintz - whom the Ontario Ministry of Finance commissioned - that the HST, together with cuts in corporate income tax and other tax changes would be good for the province's economy.

Mintz's report said that in the next decade, the new tax measures would create 591,000 net new jobs, hike capital investment by $47 billion and increase annual income for residents up to 8.8 percent or a total of $29.4 billion.

Mintz, who is the Palmer Chair of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, said in a statement, "The budget measures will have a profound impact on the willingness of business to invest in Ontario. The much lower tax burden on capital in the province will affect not only is competitiveness but also that of Canada as a whole."