Premier Dalton McGuinty is turning to his rivals to achieve a wage freeze for the broader public sector to slay Ontario's $15-billion deficit.
He says his minority Liberal government needs the Progressive Conservatives to back his efforts to freeze the pay of more than a million workers, including nurses and teachers.
The government has warned for years that it cannot afford any more pay increases in order to balance the books in 2017.
It's now threatening to legislate a wage freeze if all efforts at the bargaining table fail to produce one.
McGuinty is reaching out to the Tories just a day after Opposition Leader Tim Hudak announced plans to introduce legislation to force a wage freeze immediately.
The Conservatives have long called for an immediate freeze, saying it will save the province $2 billion a year.
