TORONTO - With a trip down the campaign trail just days away, Premier Dalton McGuinty promised Sunday that a Liberal government would establish a new tax credit for Ontario seniors who need renovations to live independently at home.
Eligible seniors would be able to claim 15 per cent of up to $10,000 each year for eligible home renovations, including improvements such as new chair lifts, ramps and walk-in showers, McGuinty said one day before the Liberals were expected to release their campaign platform.
However, in a Liberals-only conference call heard by The Canadian Press, party insiders admitted that they raided Prime Minister Stephen Harper's policy book.
"It's an initiative that we partly stole from the Harper Tories, but a better one," Liberal advisor Alicia Johnston said during the conference call.
The proposal allows family members who provide a home for an elderly relative such as a parent or aunt to be able to claim the tax credit, which would cost the government $120 million once fully implemented.
The number of seniors in Ontario is expected to double over the next decade. Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne said seniors have told her over the years that they don't want to leave their homes unless they absolutely have to, but their house isn't set up to keep them there.
"People need to have options," Wynne said.
"There's lots of evidence that if we can keep people at home, keep them out of emergency rooms, keep them out of acute care beds, it's good for health-care system as well."
As he made the announcement, McGuinty took a swipe at his rivals, saying the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats have no practical plans for improving home care.
But Tory critic Jim Wilson said the Liberal announcement doesn't address the real problems seniors are facing, such as the lack of available long-term care beds.
"The average person is waiting 173 days for a long-term care bed, so they're forced to stay in their homes," Wilson said in an interview.
"When they get to a stage where they do need a long-term care bed, they're not available, but the lists have grown to record levels."
The Liberal aging-at-home strategy, which has already cost the province $1 billion, has been a dismal failure in that area, he added.
The Liberals have boosted funding for long-term care from $2.12 billion in 2003/04 to $3.44 billion in 2010/11. They have added 9,000 new long-term care beds since 2003 and are redeveloping 35,000 over the next 10 years, said Wynne.
The Tories have promised to create 5,000 new nursing home beds. The NDP is pledging to eliminate the wait list for acute long-term care beds and fund one million hours of home care.
Ontario NDP candidate Paul Ferreira accused the Liberals of ignoring the plight of seniors for the last eight years, and only now taking action in the 11th hour on the eve of an election campaign.
"It's an acknowledgment that their own aging at home strategy is in tatters," he said.
Ontario's auditor general found that 10,000 people were waiting for home care last December.
Last month, the Liberals pledged to spend $60 million annually for a program that would allow doctors to make house calls to seniors and others who may otherwise find it difficult to leave their home.
