McGuinty's 100 days (and counting) of inaction

(January 13, 2012) With each passing day since the October election, the only record the McGuinty Liberals can point to is one of inaction to tackling Ontario’s jobs and spending crisis, Ontario PC House Leader Jim Wilson said today at a Queen's Park press conference.

“100 days and counting and we’ve seen nothing from the McGuinty Liberals,” Wilson said.

“Dalton McGuinty would rather blame Europe and the United States. He knows better. The pain began way back in 2007, almost two years before the global recession even started.”

“The Premier claims Ontarians values are his government’s values. But Ontarians value job security, thriving careers and financial independence. How can the Liberals achieve this when all they’ve done is dither and dodged in the face of a worsening economy?”

“The government also refused to set up legislative committees. There isn’t a finance committee so the public won’t get to participate in pre-budget consultations. MPPs won’t have the chance to investigate the waste and mismanagement at e-Health and ORNGE. They’re stopping us from doing our jobs.”

“This is in complete contrast to the leadership of Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC Caucus,” Wilson noted.

“In that same time, we’ve put forward a series of ideas to get Ontarians working and to turn our province around.”

Since the election, Ontario PC MPPs have hit the ground running with plans to tackle the province’s ongoing debt and jobs crises, including:

•   Appointing a Job Creation Task Force to bring forward new ideas on job creation;
•   Introducing responsible amendments to the Throne Speech, like a mandatory wage freeze and reforming the apprenticeship system;
•   Holding the McGuinty Liberals accountable for the waste and mismanagement of taxpayers’ money, as exposed in December’s Auditor General’s report;
•   Standing up as the only party championing tax relief for entrepreneurs, small businesses and job creators; and
•   Putting forward responsible solutions to avert yet another Moody’s downgrade such as: ending corporate welfare; an immediate annual two per cent cut to Ministry budgets excluding health and education; and a top-to-bottom program review of all spending areas to deliver savings.

“As the McGuinty Liberals remain stuck in neutral, the Ontario PCs are driving the agenda each day, discussing our solutions for job creation, while meeting with people and hearing directly from them on ways we can make Ontario work again,” Wilson said.