Hudak on Budget: Liberal, NDP Chiefs "Win" - Ontario Loses

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

“This is a government, after all, that has in some cases responded to Don Drummond’s controversial review of public services by launching more reviews.”
- Adam Radwanski, The Globe and Mail, April 24, 2012

QUEEN’S PARK – Hard pressed Ontarians face another in a string of economic setbacks with Tuesday’s budget deal – but the Ontario PC Caucus remains focused on a real plan to reduce the size and cost of government and strengthen our economy to create jobs, Leader Tim Hudak said today.

“I’d like to say I’m surprised by this ‘deal’, but I’m not,” Hudak said. “What I am concerned about is the direction of Ontario now that this budget will pass. The choice made by the Premier yesterday leads us further down the same failed path we have been on for the last eight years.”

That path, Hudak said, is strewn with more spending, more taxing and no plan to create a better climate for job creation. “It tinkers with small change when what we need is big change.”

In the Legislature, Hudak noted that the budget deal also violates two of the so-called “principles” the Premier said would guide his decision-making in buying NDP support.

“You said tax increases were out of the question,” Hudak recalled. “And you said that because of your massive deficits we can’t have any more new spending. And now you have broken both of these promises.

“Just because the McGuinty Liberals are so quick to toss their principles overboard doesn’t mean we are. And it doesn’t mean Ontarians are either.”

Hudak demanded an accounting from the Premier as to how many hundreds of millions of tax dollars this brokered budget would cost: “Earlier you had said the NDP proposals would cost $1 billion,” Hudak said. “Yesterday you accepted nearly all of them.

“Show us the price tag – and how much more you’ll need to borrow from international lenders to pay for it all.”

Hudak said that the Ontario PC Caucus believes in a very different approach: “It’s one that requires urgent action on two parallel tracks,” Hudak said. “We need to reduce the size and cost of government and kick-start growth and job creation in the private sector.

“I have raised these priorities daily for five months. This budget addresses none of them, which is why we refuse to support it.”

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Parkdale-High Park pub night this Wednesday April 18th with guest Monte McNaughton, MPP

POST-BUDGET PUB NIGHT WITH MONTE MCNAUGHTON, MPP AND PC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION CRITIC – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18TH – 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Join us for a Post-Budget Pub Night at the Yellow Griffin Pub, upstairs at 2202 Bloor Street West (at Runnymede). We are pleased to have Monte McNaughton, MPP (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) and PC Economic Development & Innovation Critic come out to discuss the recent Ontario Budget, and hear about our plan to get Ontario’s economic fundamentals back in shape. Members and supporters are welcome. A suggested donation of $20 gets you pub fare and one-year riding association membership!

April 2012 Parkdale-High Park PC Association Newsletter

Message from the President

I hope that you enjoy this first edition of our riding newsletter in 2012. Throughout the year, our Association will be sending you regular updates on upcoming events, and recent activities. We hope that you will take the opportunity to get more involved in our riding association, and to help us elect a PC Member of Provincial Parliament to Queen’s Park as part of the Tim Hudak team!

Last October, Ontario voters elected a minority Parliament for the first time in a generation. This means that election readiness will be our Association’s top priority in 2012, as the tired and out-of-touch McGuinty Liberal government could fall at any time.

This past January, your Association elected a new Executive to take on the task of rebuilding our riding’s war chest and membership base to fight the next election. On behalf of our Association, I also want to thank Marshall Leslie for all of his leadership and hard work during his six years as President of our riding association. A list of your 2012-2013 Riding Association Executive is set out below.

Since our local AGM, our Association sent a large delegation to attend our Party’s General Meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Over 1,500 delegates from across the province gathered on February 10^th-12^th to confirm Tim Hudak’s leadership with a clear 79% mandate and elect a strong new Party Executive, led by incoming Party President Richard Ciano.

Your Executive is also planning an ambitious program of events for this spring, including a Post-Budget Pub Night on Wednesday, April 18^th, and a Fundraising Reception for Wednesday, May 30^th. Plans are also underway for a policy town hall for members and supporters, as well as other informal social events throughout the balance of the year.

Your continued involvement in our Association will be critical to our success. Please support us by renewing your membership for 2012, by joining us at these upcoming events, or by making a donation to the Association. If you have any ideas for our Association, or would like to get more involved, please call or email me.

Blair McCreadie
Riding President, Parkdale-High Park PC Association


ONTARIO BUDGET 2012 REPORT: NO JOBS PLAN, NO LEADERSHIP


Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak has announced that the Ontario PC Caucus will vote against the recent Ontario budget, which failed to address Ontario’s jobs and spending crisis. Instead of showing tough and responsible fiscal management in the face of a $15 billion dollar deficit, the McGuinty Liberals have chosen to simply kick the fiscal can down the road again.

Some “low-lights” of the failed Liberal budget include:

• The 2012 budget does not reduce spending or the debt: the 2012 deficit remains unchanged at $15 billion, and actually increased between 2010 and 2011.
• Despite receiving $3.3 billion in federal equalization payments, Ontario’s budget deficit this year is three times the size of other province’s deficits combined.
• The Liberals’ claim that they will enact “cuts” of $17.7 billion from the budget in the next three years is unsupportable. The budget will only slow the rate of spending increases over that time, compared to their trajectory over the past eight years. Government spending just goes up more slowly – by $3.4 billion.
• Beyond 2015, the Budget provides no data to support reductions in spending required to balance the budget in 2017.
• Despite tough talk, the Ontario Budget does nothing to freeze public sector wages.

At a time when Ontario needs to reduce spending, become more competitive and spark private sector job creation, this failed Budget takes Ontario in exactly the opposite direction. The Ontario PC Party will continue the fight for an integrated, pro-growth plan that both reduces the size and cost of government and creates a more dynamic economy that creates good jobs. For more information on Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak’s response to the 2012 Ontario Budget, please visit the Ontario PC Party website. Please also join the Parkdale-High Park PC Association for our Post-Budget Pub Night at the Yellow Griffin Pub on April 18^th between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm.

Read Tim Hudak’s official Budget response in the Ontario Legislature

Read Tim Hudak’s column in the Globe and Mail (March 30, 2012)

Read Tim Hudak’s op-ed in the Toronto Sun (March 30, 2012)

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR, AND JOIN US FOR THESE UPCOMING ASSOCIATION EVENTS:

POST-BUDGET PUB NIGHT WITH MONTE MCNAUGHTON, MPP AND PC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION CRITIC – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18TH – 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Join us for a Post-Budget Pub Night at the Yellow Griffin Pub, 2202 Bloor Street West (at Runnymede). We are pleased to have Monte McNaughton, MPP (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) and PC Economic Development & Innovation Critic come out to discuss the recent Ontario Budget, and hear about our plan to get Ontario’s economic fundamentals back in shape.

All members and supporters are welcome, and pub snacks will be provided. Recommended donation is $20.00. To RSVP, please email Blair McCreadie.

SPRING FUNDRAISING RECEPTION WITH ELIZABETH WITMER, MPP AND PC HEALTH CRITIC AND CAUCUS CHAIR - WEDNESDAY, MAY 30^TH – 5:30 – 7:30 PM

Join us for our annual Fundraising Reception in support of the Parkdale-High Park PC Association. Our special Guest Speaker this year is Elizabeth Witmer, MPP (Kitchener-Waterloo), and PC Health Critic and Caucus Chair. Ms. Witmer has been a leading member of the Ontario PC Caucus since being elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1990, and is a former Deputy Premier of Ontario. She also held several key portfolios between 1995-2003, serving as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Minister of Education, Minister of Environment and Minister of Labour.

The reception will be held at the Old Mill Inn and Spa, 21 Old Mill Road.. Tickets for the reception are $175.00, and a generous tax receipt will be provided. Cheques may be made payable to the Parkdale-High Park PC Association, and all major credit cards will also be accepted.

Don’t miss this important event. Our local campaign needs your financial support to purchase signs and literature, and to deliver our message of change to doorsteps across Parkdale-High Park. To RSVP, please contact Nadia Yee or Blair McCreadie by email.

HELP US START A YOUTH ASSOCIATION
As part of our rebuilding efforts, we are working hard to found a youth association in our riding association. Anyone who is 14 years of age or older is eligible to join the Ontario PC Party. To get involved or for more information on the Parkdale-High Park PC youth movement, please contact Jesse Donovan.

YOUR 2012-2013 RIDING EXECUTIVE
President: Blair McCreadie
Vice-Presidents: Michael Butler, Bob Harris, Allan MacDermid, Irene Stewart, Nadia Yee
CFO and Treasurer: Tina Leslie
Membership Secretary: Marshall Leslie
Secretary: Len Turkevics
Directors: Jennifer Bell, Elizabeth Cabrera, Jesse Donovan, Marie Gauthier, Amy Umpleby
Candidate of Record: Joseph Ganetakos

For more information, please contact Riding President Blair McCreadie or by phone at 416-961-8816.