Dalton McGuinty’s “Drummond Deficit”

by Christine Elliott, MLA Ajax-Whitby

“It is a good thing to follow the first law of holes: If you are in one, stop digging.”
- the late British Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey

QUEEN’S PARK – Now staring at a $30 billion deficit, Dalton McGuinty has not only done nothing to meet the Drummond report’s urgent call for less spending – he has actually dug a $4.3 billion hole in the opposite direction, Ontario PC Deputy Leader Christine Elliott said today.

“Don Drummond’s direction to the Premier was clear: If he turns down any one recommendation, it would need to be replaced with another of equal value, to balance the budget by 2017-18,” Elliott said. “We have been equally clear: Everything must be on the table.

“So what does Dalton McGuinty do with this advice? Coupled with his prior un-costed spending on home reno tax credits, he takes more than $4 billion out of the equation – without a word on what he will do to follow the advice he himself asked for, and replace it.

“The Premier must not get away with this. He was continually briefed on Drummond and had the report six weeks early. He knew long ago he would not touch certain recommendations. For every day’s delay, the pain will only get worse.”

Not including the home reno tax credit ($120 million), Elliott tallied the list of Drummond recommendations waved away by McGuinty as off-limits over the past week alone:

• Continuing full-day Kindergarten: $1.5 billion
• Maintaining capped class sizes: $500 million
• Keeping 70 per cent of non-teaching school staff: $600 million
• Maintaining the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit: $1.1 billion
• Retaining the tuition grant: $485 million
• Rejected Drummond recommendations: $4.2 billion
• Add home reno tax credit: $120 million
• TOTAL: $4.3 billion

All this stacks up against a fiscal problem that is much worse than Ontarians were led to believe, Elliott stressed: “By now, Tim Hudak would have acted on his commitments to make Ministers financially accountable for hitting targets, initiated a full program review, had briefings from Drummond and Finance officials, and tabled a fall action plan leading to an early budget.

“Ontarians are now staring at a completely unsustainable $30 billion deficit,” Elliott said. “It’s the McGuinty Liberals’ reckless, one-off spending binges and ad hoc approach to governing – and now playing one group off another – that got us into this mess.

“And it will not get us out.”

New study: Factors associated with voting

Today, Statistics Canada released an important study: "Factors associated with voting" by Sharanjit Uppal and Sébastien LaRochelle-Côté. It concluded that:

• Voting rates increased with both age and education. However, the education effect was much stronger among young voters, such that the difference in voting rates between 18- to 24-year-olds and 25- to 34-year-olds disappeared after controlling for education and other factors.
• Among family types, single parents with young children were the least likely and couples with no young children the most likely to vote.
• Home owners had significantly higher voting rates than renters.
• Overall, immigrant citizens were less likely to vote than the Canadianborn, but voting rates generally increased with time in Canada. Voting rates were highest for immigrants from Northern and Western Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Conversely, immigrants from East Asia, West Central Asia and the Middle East had the lowest voting rates.
• Residents of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Quebec had higher-than-average voting rates while Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Manitoba had rates below the national average.
• Employed people were more likely to vote than the unemployed or those not in the labour force, after controlling for other factors.
• Looking only at the employed, those working in the public sector or in high-skill occupations were the most likely to vote. Voting rates were lower for those working 40 hours or more per week and in less-skilled occupations.
• Since Canadian voting rates fell in the 1990s and voting in recent American presidential elections has increased, a long-standing gap between Canadian and American voting rates has closed. Trends in the United Kingdom were similar to those in Canada, but their voting rates remained above those of their North American counterparts in most election years.

Hudak: Get on with the job, Premier

“The roots of Ontario’s current fix lie in both the economy and in the province’s record of failing to keep growth in government spending in line with revenue growth.”
- Page 81, Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services

QUEEN’S PARK (February 15, 2012) – Don Drummond’s report has exposed a Liberal spending crisis more severe than anything previously disclosed, requiring immediate action to start reversing the damage – and straight talk from political leaders, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak said today.

“The simple fact is that we would not be in this mess without years of uncontrolled McGuinty Liberal spending, which my Caucus and I have opposed every step of the way,” Hudak said.

“Yet for months now, the Liberals have shown fear that if they level with people they’ll fall in the polls. I believe that if we don’t level with people now, Ontario will fall off a cliff.”

Every day’s delay now will only worsen the situation, Hudak added, saying his responsibility is both to hold the government to account and champion the changes needed to kick-start a provincial recovery and avert Ontario’s bankruptcy.

“Dalton McGuinty needs to restore some confidence that this government has shaken off its paralysis. To start, he must declare a “quarantine zone” around the public purse. No more new, uncosted, one-off spending initiatives.”

Further, Hudak noted, Don Drummond said that every one of his recommendations must be acted on in order to balance the budget by 2017. “If the Premier takes a single one of them off the table he must specify an alternative approach.”

Hudak also called on the government to impose an immediate public sector wage freeze, put an end to corporate welfare – which, according to the report, shows little evidence “of achieving any economic benefit for Ontario” (p. 309) – and implement pro-growth policies such as apprenticeship reform.

Longer term, Hudak said, Ontario governments need to return to first principles: spend only what you have; set spending priorities on essential programs and services such as health and education; and exit all other areas of business that government has no business being in.

“It’s time to say the things Ontarians need to know – not just what they want to hear: We’re running out of money, and running out of time,” Hudak said. “And, as we fight for a smaller, smarter government, we must also grow the private sector economy.

“I commit to lead this charge on behalf of Ontario’s hard-pressed taxpayers – and especially the 600,000 Ontarians who didn’t have a job to go to this morning.”

Parkdale-High Park Members Active at Ontario Convention

The Parkdale-High Park riding association sent a 17-person delegation to last weekend's annual general meeting of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. More than 1,600 delegates, alternates and guests registered for the three-day event between February 10th and 13th, at the Niagara Falls Scotiabank Centre. Four of our members also lent a hand as volunteers in the credentials and voting processes. (Thank-you Blair, Jenn, Bob and Tina).

We would like to congratulate Richard Ciano, who was elected Party President in the first three-way contest that the Party has witnessed in more than 60 years, and also Justin Van Dette our Toronto regional Vice-President, who was acclaimed.

Please watch Tim Hudak's keynote speech to the annual general meeting.