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THUNDER BAY, ONT.The Liberals are offering a grab bag of new initiatives from capping hospital parking fees to bringing in 60 minutes of physical education a day for youngsters to developing the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario.

The initiatives in the partys platform, which was released Sunday, put meat on the bones of the unsuccessful May 1 budget and the Liberals promise it can all be done with the $119.4 billion in spending set out in that budget, which they say they will reintroduce if they form the next government after the June 12 election.

All of the commitments are fully costed within our 2014-15 budget, Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne told a campaign gathering in Thunder Bay.

These kind of details, she said, would have followed in the wake of the May 1 budget had NDP Leader Andrea Horwath not triggered an election by refusing to support it.

My plan is about the opportunity and security that will allow this province to flourish and that is dependent on making the right investments right now in people, in their skills, in transportation and infrastructure and in a business climate that is competitive, she said.

On Monday, Wynne tees off against Horwath in a northern debate, one of two to be held this election campaign. Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak will be visibly absent from it after announcing he had a scheduling conflict.

It is inexplicable to me that he is not here it would never have occurred to me not to come to the northern debate, Wynne said.

She described the June 12 election as a referendum both on the Liberal plan to grow the economy and on Hudaks plan to cut 100,000 public sector jobs, which she says threatens Ontarios economic recovery.

Both the Progressive Conservatives and the New Democrats were quick to pounce of the Liberal wish list Sunday, saying it lacked credibility given that the province is mired in debt and the jobless numbers are consistently high, especially in the north.

The May 1 budget set aside $1 billion for development of the Ring of Fire, contingent on matching federal dollars. But the Liberals now say the province would go it alone under their election platform.

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Ontario election: Liberal platform includes GO expansion, Ring of Fire development

THUNDER BAY, Ont. Ontarios Liberals are promising to go ahead and spend $1 billion to build a transportation route to the Ring of Fire mineral deposit, with or without financial help from the federal Conservatives.

READ MORE: Privatizing transit could ease GTA gridlock: Hudak

But they havent decided where or when theyll start building it, or how theyll find another $1 billion to complete the route in a remote region of northern Ontario if Ottawa wont provide the funds.

They say those decisions will be up to a development corporation that theyll create within 60 days of taking office that will include both levels of government, First Nations and private companies.

The Liberals are also promising to build more hospices, cap hospital parking fees and help high-school students plan their path to a desired career if theyre re-elected on June 12.

Officials say the platform essentially fleshes out more details of their failed May 1 budget that theyd planned to announce as they took the document on the road, and are fully costed.

It includes some common ground with their rivals, who triggered the election when they said they couldnt support the budget.

The Liberals say theyd improve students math scores and physical activity, as well as increase apprenticeship spaces, which the Progressive Conservatives have also proposed.

Theyre also promising to continue to reduce wait times, saying theyve already cut them by 50 per cent, and are guaranteeing that every resident will have access to a primary care provider, such as doctor or nurse-practioners.

The New Democrats have also said theyll reduce wait times and create more access to health-care services if theyre elected.

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Liberals promise $1 billion for Ring of Fire

Maria Babbage, The Canadian Press Published Sunday, May 25, 2014 7:12AM EDT Last Updated Monday, May 26, 2014 6:34AM EDT

THUNDER BAY, Ont. -- Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne vowed to go ahead and spend $1 billion over the next decade to build a transportation route to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in the province's north -- with or without financial help from the federal Conservatives -- if the Liberals are re-elected on June 12.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shown no interest in helping the province develop the massive chromite deposit, which would be a big boon to Ontario's economy and create jobs in hard-hit northern communities, Wynne said Sunday in Thunder Bay, Ont.

"We have not seen that kind of responsibility taken," the Liberal leader told supporters at the party's platform launch.

"He has not taken that responsibility, but I am. We are making it a priority for my government."

But officials said they haven't decided where or when they'll start building the route, or how they'll find another $1 billion to complete it in a remote region of northern Ontario if Ottawa won't provide the funds.

Those decisions will be up to a development corporation that Wynne said she'd create within 60 days of taking office that will include both levels of government, First Nations and private companies.

Much of the platform Wynne detailed on Sunday essentially fleshed out unannounced details of the spending plans outlined in the Liberals' May 1 budget, which both opposition parties rejected -- triggering an election. Wynne said she'd re-introduce the fiscal plan if the Liberals win.

The $119.4-billion budget had promised to put up $1 billion for infrastructure to develop the Ring of Fire, but only if the federal Tories matched the funds. That condition now appears to have changed.

"We have not seen any indication in the last number of weeks that Stephen Harper is interested in stepping forward and making the same kind of support available to the Ring of Fire as he made available to the oilsands," Wynne said.

Excerpt from:
Liberals to hand down platform on Sunday

The B.C. Liberals took one last victory lap at their nostalgiafilled annual convention in Kelowna, squeezing every warm and fuzzy memory from last year's election win before the rough ride - and a school strike - begin.

Premier Christy Clark strode to the convention stage to thank party faithful for helping engineer last May's come-from-behind win at the polls, but warned that momentum only lasts so long.

"We all know we cannot count on momentum," she said.

"It is careful, purposeful, principled hard work that makes a different future a reality.

"We have spent this last year well, but we need to make sure those next three years ahead we work just as hard, because they will probably be even harder."

Clark was treated to 98.8 per cent endorsement of her leadership by members, and summed up the weekend party of 1,200 members by saying: "I have never seen a happier group of B.C. Liberals."

But the afterglow from the Liberal convention won't last long.

The government returns to Victoria today as the province's 41,000 teachers walk off the job in rotating strikes that will shut down schools throughout the province.

Liberal members voted Education Minister Peter Fassbender to a self-described "hot seat" questionand-answer session during the closing hours of the convention Sunday, where they quizzed him about the teachers' dispute, including the disagreement with the BCTF over class size and composition in classrooms.

"The class size issue is an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned, because all the research in the world says size does not determine outcomes," Fassbender said.

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