Ontario NDP pledge tax credit for family caregivers NDP Leader Andrea Horwath to promise credit for family caregivers as she unveils party election platform Thursday Ontario New Democrats will unveil help for the “sandwich generation” as a key plank in their election platform Thursday with the promise of a tax credit for family caregivers tending to aging relatives as well as children with special needs, the Star has learned. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is expected to announce the “Caregiver Tax Credit” to provide $1,275 per year to families caring for a sick or elderly family member at home, according to a party official. The policy will be a part of the NDP’s policy platform expected to be unveiled Thursday in Toronto. The caregiver tax credit is aimed at helping family members caring for parents assessed as needing more than minimal care, the source said. The aid is meant to provide some assistance to the so-called sandwich generation caught between the demands of caring for aging parents while also tending to their own children. But the tax credit could be claimed for a dependent of any age in the same house, including children with conditions such as autism. An Ontario resident would be able to claim for up to three dependents for a maximum credit of $3,825 a year per caregiver. The NDP says the promise would cost $230 million in the first year, rising to $260 million a year by 2018. The NDP source said the credit speaks to the theme of the party’s election platform that could include other measures on issues like childcare, early learning and apprenticeships. “The policy aligns with the central theme of Andrea’s platform about providing relief to families at a time when the costs of living are rising and the middle class is shrinking,” the source said. Thursday’s platform release will be key test for Horwath, who has faced criticism that the party has moved away from its traditional left-wing roots under her leadership. That criticism was reignited by Horwath’s decision to trigger the June 12 vote — which scuttled a Liberal budget that included a boost to welfare payouts, an increase in the Ontario Child benefit to help low-income families, faster home care for seniors, and lower auto insurance rates. But Horwath said Wednesday that the NDP is focusing on the “fundamentals” for Ontario families and that voters will have a choice on election day between the Liberals “mired in scandal, the Tories and their plans that “don’t really make a lot of sense” or the New Democrats. “A party that is focusing on the fundamentals again . . . a party that is talking about what it takes to bring trust back to government,” Horwath said of her New Democrats. “It takes focusing on people’s priorities, by investing their tax dollars in appropriate ways and respecting those tax dollars.” And she pushed back at suggestions that the NDP risked being marginalized in the election fight between the Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives under Tim Hudak. “I think that on June 12 the options will be very clear to people and I know that New Democrats will be engaging Ontarians for the next number of weeks in the real choice that is before them,” she said. Horwath said the Liberal party makes “all kinds of promises but simply does not focus on the main priority, which is Ontario families. They focus on their own political well-being. “This is the decision in front of voters come June 12,” she said.
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 10:39:18 +0000
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