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TORONTO - The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today condemned the provincial Liberal government for announcing that it will shut down debate to force passage of its budget legislation, Bill 83, by June 17 2004.

By doing this, the government will have passed the bill before a hearing date set for June 21 for the CTF's court case against Messrs. McGuinty and Sorbara. The case seeks to prevent passage of the tax increases contained in the budget and to hold Mr. McGuinty accountable for his breach of promise to the CTF not to raise taxes.

"The government is clearly accelerating its legislative schedule to get ahead of our court date. They are attempting to pass this bill before the courts have an opportunity to judge it," said Kheiriddin. "They aren't respecting the courts anymore than they are respecting the taxpayers of this province."

According to the Liberal platform from the fall 2003 election,

"The public should be given the opportunity to comment on any legislation of significance…We will ensure that you have the opportunity to offer comment on all major bills."

"During the last election campaign Mr. McGuinty condemned the Conservative government for shutting down debate as an attack on democracy. Yet today he's doing exactly the same thing," said CTF Ontario Director Tasha Kheiriddin. "He also said he would empower MPPs, by allowing them to speak freely and criticize government legislation. The only real opportunity to do this is in committee and House debate- and yet he now denies them both."