Cutting HST on hydro tops Tory platform

[attach]4826[/attach]Willowdale’s Progressive Conservative candidate Vince Agovino wants to make Ontario the land of opportunity again.

When he was just a year old he and his family arrived in the province from Argentina and his parents were able to find jobs at a bank and as a mechanic.

“Over the last eight years I’ve noticed that opportunity is starting to diminish,” said Agovino. “A family that has the same type of jobs that my parents had back in the ’80s now would not be able to afford the lifestyle that we had back then because things are just so much more difficult.”

The first-time candidate said he would like to help make utilities more affordable by eliminating the provincial portion of the HST on home-heating and hydro bills.

“These issues are top of mind here in Willowdale,” Agovino said. “We have a lot of single dwelling homes and it’s expensive to heat and it’s expensive to pay the hydro bills.”

As part of the Tories’ platform, Agovino would also help to implement income sharing for married couples. As a small business owner, he said the province could attract more jobs if the basic corporate income tax was reduced by 1.5 percent.

“Helping small business thrive will increase employment in Ontario and I think I have a unique position through my experience to be able to really relate to that,” he said.

Eleven years ago, Agovino started his own business soon after graduating from the University of Toronto where he studied history and political science. He opened AgTA Home Care, an agency that provides caregivers and medical and safety equipment to seniors, after seeing how difficult it was to care for his grandparents at home.

“I saw the trials and tribulations that my mom had to go through to care for them at home,” he said. “I realized that there was a big need because my mom wasn’t the only one that was having these issues.”

Not only has Agovino’s agency made him familiar with seniors’ issues, it has provided him with business skills he says will serve him well in a life of public service.

“You have to be responsible to other people because they depend on your decision making for their pay,” Agovino said of being a business owner. “You have to make sure that you don’t spend more than what you bring in.”

Agovino will try to bring in enough votes on Oct. 6 when he faces off against NDP candidate Alexander Brown and Liberal incumbent David Zimmer.

Zimmer, in a March interview with the Town Crier, was critical of Agovino saying, “Vince Agovino is not a high profile candidate.”

Agovino said he is not bothered by the comment.

“David Zimmer is a nice guy,” he said. “The issue here is it’s not about David Zimmer, it’s about who can Ontarians trust to not raise their taxes and bring the change Ontario needs to give hard-working families the relief they deserve.

“And it’s Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC Party.”