WINDSOR

Liberals promise to tie future increases to Ontario Child Benefit to inflation

The Canadian Press Published Tuesday, April 22, 2014 11:41AM EDT

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne takes questions from the media after speaking to a theatre audience in Port Hope, Ont. on Feb. 7, 2014. (Galit Rodan / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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TORONTO - The governing Liberals are making another budget promise: to tie future increases to the Ontario Child Benefit to inflation.

They say it would start July 2015 if their crucial May 1 budget passes in the legislature.

The annual maximum payment per child under the age of 18 -- which is available to families making $20,000 or less a year -- will rise to $1,310 this July.

The minority Liberals are also proposing to increase wages for early childhood educators and other child care workers.

They say it would raise wages by an average of two dollars an hour, with the first increase starting in January 2015.

The Liberals need at least one opposition party to support their budget to avoid an election.