Last night Tim Hudak leader of the Ontario PC party laid out his priorities for governing going into next year’s provincial election.
From Tim Hudak
First, a PC Government will deliver a plan to govern that will give families real tax relief, so they
can get their household budgets back in order. The reality is, the tax burden forced upon family
budgets by Dalton McGuinty has been stifling, the latest crunch being the HST. From filling up
your car with gas, to the heat for your home, to routine expenses like haircuts, the HST hits
families hard. It’s clear, Ontario families need relief.
…. In the months ahead, we will use the feedback we are
getting to develop our plan to govern. A plan that will put families first, get government focused
on the services we care about and need, and make private-sector job creation a priority.
Which brings me to my next point. I believe the private sector should be Ontario’s engine of
economic development – not bigger government. I know there are just a few of you here tonight
that work in the home-building business. No one knows better than you about Ontario families.
You help them fulfill their dreams of home ownership each and every day. When more families
have more resources and more confidence to move into a new home, the closer Ontario will be
to returning to our proud spot as a leader in Canada.
Over the last seven years, Ontario’s GDP grew by a total of nine percent while government
spending increased by a staggering 70 percent. That kind of spending means Dalton McGuinty
is on course to single-handily double Ontario’s debt by 2012. Let me put that in perspective, it
took 23 Ontario premiers 136 years to accumulate our first $148 billion in debt, and he will
double it on his own because he just can’t stop spending.
Folks, I think you’ll agree with me that the private sector simply cannot afford to support a
bloated public sector any longer. To help reign in spending and get government focused on the
basics families need most, I am calling for a mandatory Sunset Review process that forces
every government body to justify their existence and continued value to the public. And if they
can’t – they go…I also believe in order to
attract good jobs to Ontario and help build a strong private sector, energy policy should be
treated as economic policy, and not a social program.
Because of this government’s energy experiments, hydro rates have increased by 75 percent
since they came to office. Worse yet, bills are going up further 46 percent. As unaffordable as it
is for families, businesses across Ontario, are also grappling with skyrocketing energy costs.
For many it will mean the difference of staying in business OR letting employees go, turning off
the lights, and closing the doors for good.
Tim Hudak Leader of the Ontario PC Party
First for the Liberals to say that the PC party has no plan I say to them read between the lines; we are in the process of still listening to Ontarians and getting the pulse of the people. As for refocusing on private sector job creation this would be a welcome change for those Ontarians who feel that they have been paying higher taxes and seeing nothing in return.
Wage freezes for public sector employees are cold comfort to the young Ontario college graduate who cannot find a job or the Ontarian with the middle management position that has just been downsized. Or the worker that has spent a lifetime in Ontario’s steel- industry but can’t be re-employed, as there is no funding for re- training. One of the legacies of the Ontario Liberals will be Dalton’s dependency state.
In McGuinty’s drive to create more a caring and compassionate society, he has made Ontarians more reliant on the largess of the government not less.
Finally, borrowing a quote from the most famous bard of them all Shakespeare, “We know what we are, but not what we may be.” That is the question Ontarians have to answer for themselves; are they satisfied with the status quo or are they willing to choose change next year.
You can still get involved at the grassroots level; have your say about the direction of Ontario by [clicking here].
Part two
Part two