MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- A Progressive Conservative government would take swift action on several campaign pledges in its first 100 days, including launching a judicial inquiry into the gas plants scandal and bringing in an employment-focused budget, leader Tim Hudak said Friday.
But he was less clear about the timing of promised public sector job cuts.
"We can and we will act quickly and decisively to put Ontario on the path to job creation and to fiscal sanity," Hudak told a Mississauga Board of Trade breakfast meeting.
Hudak's 12 item to-do list includes, among other things, bringing in a "jobs budget," slicing the size of cabinet to 16 members from the current 27 and making his ministers sign a guarantee to meet his goals or have their pay docked.
He compared his approach to that of Premier Kathleen Wynne, who is promising to re-introduce the same budget that was rejected by the opposition parties, triggering next week's election. The Liberal leader, said Hudak, is offering "more of the same from Day 1."
The Tory leader made it clear that a Hudak government would follow one guiding light -- boosting employment.
"Every decision, every argument will be resolved on the basis of what it does to create more jobs," he said.
His bucket list would see the party hit the ground running on many prominent campaign commitments, such as abolishing the College of Trades, reducing business taxes and suspending both hiring and wage increases for government workers, whose ranks would not be replenished as they retire or stop working.
But absent from the list is any sign of major moves on Hudak's planned 100,000 public sector job cuts, which are to occur over four years and have become a lightning rod for criticism from the Liberals and New Democrats.
It appears the Tories aren't ruling out waiting to make the controversial cuts until after their first few months in office, which in a minority-government scenario could let them pass an introductory budget without risking losing the non-confidence vote and getting turfed from power before the paint dries.
But NDP Leader Andrea Horwath disagreed with the presumption underpinning Hudak's get-going list -- the prediction that his party is going to be elected.
"I don't think anybody's going to be giving Mr. Hudak a chance to make good on those promises," she said at a campaign stop in Toronto.
Also included on the list are steps that would look closely at decisions made under the Liberal government: a "full accounting" of the province's finances and a judicial inquiry into the gas plants cancellation, an issue that has returned to the forefront with news the Ontario Provincial Police anti-rackets squad investigating the matter is seeking more documents from legislative staff.
"We need the answers on the billion dollars that was taken out of your pockets simply to save a couple of Liberal seats," Hudak said of the cancellations estimated to cost up to $1.1 billion.
"But we also need to set an important tone -- for any leader, any politician of any political party -- that this kind of activity will never, ever happen in the province of Ontario again," said Hudak, adding the probe would be modelled on the federal sponsorship scandal inquiry.
He said it is a "moment of truth" for Wynne, repeating his call for all gas plants documents to be publicly released. Wynne says that she has no control of the newly requested documents, which are held by the legislative assembly and not political aides.
Hudak said he is confident he could push through the promised changes in the 100-day time span, but dodged a question on whether he would resign if he failed to make them happen.
During this week's debate Hudak said he would step down if he fails to make good on his million jobs plan commitment, which includes balancing the budget within two years.
Voters head to the polls on Thursday.
With files from Allison Jones and Maria Babbage
