On June 3rd, Ontario voters will be called upon to do their best Fox Mulder impersonation and dig through misleading information, never-ending punditry and spin-doctoring to find what they believe to be the facts in order that they may cast an informed ballot.

This Herculean task will necessitate 28 days of devotion, scrutiny and persistence on the part of Ontario voters. It will be intense and the spin-doctoring and electoral accusations will stretch the limits of even the most active imaginations.

Dalton McGuinty might tell you that everything from sparrows falling from the sky to postponed elective surgery is a result of Mike Harris' "brutal" tax cutting. Howard Hampton might tell us that school closures are the result of a vast right-wing conspiracy to surrender control of education to "evil" corporate interests. Government MPPs might tell you that Ontario was headed for a third-world market crisis if it were not for their fiscal plan and your PC candidate will probably take full credit for every job that has been created in Ontario since 242 BC.

The challenge for taxpayers is to pose intelligent questions to their respective candidates and demand clear, concise and accurate answers. Admittedly, this is much easier said than done so we offer this primer for voters.

Questions for the PC Candidate:

Why is our provincial credit rating today the same as it was when Bob Rae was turfed out of office Why is government spending - as proposed in the recent budget - at an all-time high What is your plan to reduce the province's debt because it now chews up 16 cents of every tax dollar I send to Queen's Park Why did your party spend $90 million of taxpayers money on ads that were clearly partisan and should have been paid for from PC Party of Ontario funds Why did Mike Harris not introduce Balanced Budget and Taxpayer Protection Legislation immediately after he was elected like he promised on May 30, 1995 Why does your party continue to embrace corporate welfare and complicate the tax system with countless industry specific tax-credit programs

Questions for the Liberal candidate:

How do you plan to improve the provincial credit rating Why is the focus of your platform geared towards spending surpluses as opposed to returning most of this money to taxpayers in the form of tax cuts and debt reduction Your leader has never been tested in cabinet or government: isn't he a little to green to run Ontario Why did your leader support teachers in illegal strikes What guarantee do I have that you won't use taxpayers money for partisan advertising

Questions for the NDP candidate:

How do you plan to improve the provincial credit rating After doubling provincial debt from $42 billion in 1990 to over $100 billion in 1995, will you acknowledge that trying to spend your way out of a deficit was stupid and morally wrong Your leader says he will roll-back the 30% tax cut for income earner's over $80,000: am I to assume that a one-earner, four person family is considered wealthy by your party and thus deserving of punitive and outdated class-warfare tax treatment Do you not understand that the pillars of social justice and public compassion can only be supported by a foundation of wealth creation

Finally, two questions that should be posed to all candidates are: 1) What is your recipe to ensure that our economy continues to fire on all cylinders ; and 2) Explain to me why you are insulting me with the premise that more spending automatically equals better health care. What outcomes and indicators will you use to ensure new spending does improve health care rather than simply perpetuating the status quo

Admittedly you can and should ask more questions. The truth is out there, we just have to dig through the spin like Fox Mulder to find it.