New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath will put people first in the coming Legislative session, proposing sensible solutions on jobs, health care, retirement and other challenges facing the people who make Ontario work.

“The people who make Ontario work need a government that works for them,” said Horwath. “They need good jobs, reliable health care and a government that puts them first. Instead they have a government that leaves them behind.”

Horwath said the ongoing recession requires difficult choices from the government and laid out New Democrat priorities for the coming session including:

• creating and protecting good jobs;

• exposing short-sighted cuts to front-line health care; and

• making life affordable with proposals like an Ontario Retirement Plan.

The NDP Leader said people are frustrated with a government that offers nothing but higher sales taxes, hospital closures and no new jobs but is committed to a tax giveaway that will hand billions in public money to some of Ontario’s richest corporations.

“Families watching their taxes climb while their hospitals close want to know why Dalton McGuinty is giving out billions in tax giveaways to corporations with no strings attached,” said Horwath.

Horwath said McGuinty’s panicked decision to inject last-minute funds to keep the doors open at Toronto’s Grace Hospital and finally provide some relief to Nortel pensioners after months of NDP pressure shows that New Democrats have been able to force the government to reverse course and put families first on key issues.

“Ontarians want a strong voice at Queen’s Park to stand up for them,” Horwath said. “If the people of Ontario are doing well, Ontario will do well. We’ll be their voice at Queen’s Park this Spring.”