QUEEN’S PARK — The issue of Ontario’s debt is on the mind of Tim Hudak, the leader of Ontario’s Official Opposition and Progressive Conservative Party Leader. Hudak is seeking to meet with senior officials in Ontario’s Ministry of Finance. The PC leader wants to find out the exact size of Ontario’s deficit and work to find ways to reduce it.
Hudak was joined by his new Finance Critic Peter Shurman with both PC MPPs calling for urgent action to stop the overspending that is driving up Ontario’s debt.
“We need immediate action to address Ontario’s ballooning debt. I want to meet with the men and women who work on this file every day, get updated on Ontario’s true deficit, and find solutions to rein in government spending,” stated Hudak. “Ontario’s deficit is currently $2 billion more than last year’s deficit. Every hour, Ontario is going deeper and deeper into debt. Hudak said immediate action is needed to get Ontario’s spending crisis under control”.
Today, Hudak called on Dalton McGuinty to implement a full Program Review to examine how every single tax dollar is spent in Ontario and how government can spend it better. No program would be exempted from the review. No stone left unturned.
Hudak’s focus since the recent election has been getting down to work to address Ontario’s spending problem. Earlier this week, Hudak requested a meeting with economist Don Drummond, Chair of the Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services, who is currently reviewing how Ontario government services work. Hudak also called on Dalton McGuinty to lead by example and reduce the size of his Cabinet from 28 to 16 ministers.
“In these tough economic times, every family has had to take a hard look at their expenses – their groceries, their cable and Internet bill – and find ways to balance the budget. The only one with no plan to reduce spending is Dalton McGuinty.”
Tim Hudak’s proposed full Program Review would reduce Ontario’s debt by:
· Examining how every tax dollar is spent. No program would be excluded from the review, including every one of Ontario’s 630 agencies, boards and commissions.
· Identifying activities that government no longer needs to deliver or fund – and getting out of these areas altogether – and finding alternate ways to deliver the services we need.
· Finding new ways, such as merit pay, to link public servants’ salaries to their performance.