QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak said “Dalton McGuinty’s out-of-touch budget cements what the Ontario PCs have been saying all along: Dalton McGuinty can only be counted on to do two things, raise taxes and increase government spending”. Hudak warned “the spending increases in Dalton McGuinty’s pre-election budget are only one half of his typical spend-and-tax pattern. The other half will come later this year when he sheepishly promises Ontario families not to raise their taxes with every intention of bringing in an historic tax hike following the election. We saw this pattern before after the 2003 campaign when he brought in the so-called health tax, and then after the 2007 campaign when he brought in his HST tax grab and eco tax”.
“After eight years, it’s clear only two things are guaranteed with Dalton McGuinty… he will raise taxes and increase spending. I know it. Ontario families know it. It’s Dalton McGuinty’s routine: break promise, tax, spend, repeat,” charges Hudak. “If this budget was sold at your local Chapters, you would find it under ‘fiction’. Ontario families know Dalton McGuinty will say anything he thinks will help to get him re-elected. Why would anyone believe him today?”
The PCs are stating that Dalton McGuinty has added more to Ontario’s debt than any other premier, despite bringing in the largest income tax increase (the
so-called health tax) and the largest sales tax increase (his HST tax grab) in Ontario’s history”.
The New Democrats are equally unimpressed with the budget.
“Dalton McGuinty’s latest budget leaves Northern Ontario families in the dust, still struggling to find jobs and cope with ever-increasing bills, says Kenora-Rainy River MPP, Howard Hampton. “The McGuinty government is desperately trying to turn the corner, but it’s still on the road to nowhere and Northern families are once again being left in the dust.”
“Not even a political compass can get the McGuinty government headed in the right direction. They act as if Northern Ontario doesn’t even exist,” Hampton asserts. “The government is cutting funding for important ministries like Natural Resources, Aboriginal Affairs and Municipal Affairs and Housing. It all
spells very bad news for Northern Ontario.”
Hampton pointed to the government’s reduced job creation targets as prime evidence of a government that is headed in the wrong direction. “The government is now projecting 60,000 fewer new jobs over the next two years. How does that instill any confidence that this government knows what its doing? So many jobs have already been lost in Northwestern Ontario, and this budget doesn’t show any job opportunities.”
“This is a second-term government that has run out of steam. October 6 can’t come soon enough for Northern Ontario,” concludes Hampton.