“Ontario’s financial future is at risk, and Premier McGuinty lacks the will to make the hard, long-term decisions we need,” says GPO Finance critic Kevin O’Donnell. “He’s already passed over obvious, big ticket savings. In contrast, our budget priorities don’t shy away from the realities facing Ontarians.”
The GPO believes eliminating the deficit requires challenging the status quo in the province’s biggest budget categories: education, energy, health care, and bringing our tax system into the 21st century.
ONE SCHOOL SYSTEM: The GPO believes there is a better solution than laying off thousands of critical classroom aids and blocking students who need a fifth year to get help. The Liberal government should do the obvious — eliminate massive and costly duplication by merging the best of the Catholic and public school systems into a one French/English public system. The result benefits everyone –a high quality, financially responsible, and equitable education system.
STOP BORROWING BILLIONS TO SUBSIDIZE WASTEFUL ENERGY CONSUMPTION: Ontario cannot afford to borrow $1.2 billion to subsidize pollution and electricity bills with the misleadingly named ‘Clean Energy Benefit’. Instead, we should help lower-income families with the rising cost of living by raising the Ontario Child Benefit as planned at a much lower cost of $90 million. It makes more sense to help businesses and households save money by increasing energy efficiency — a strategy that’s cheaper, stimulates job creation and ultimately boosts government revenue. The government must not cave in to the NDP/Conservative HST Coalition that would borrow more money to subsidize pollution.
INVEST IN ILLNESS PREVENTION: Ontario’s current “sick care” system focused predominantly on hospital treatment is unsustainable. We need to invest more in illness prevention within home and community care settings. This budget must commit at least .5% of healthcare spending to prevention, raise taxes on cigarettes and commit 2% of the transportation budget to infrastructure for human powered mobility — serving both our community health and environmental objectives.
EFFICIENT AND FAIR TAX REFORM: The GPO calls for the elimination of unsustainable corporate tax cuts and a commitment to forming a public commission on the reform and modernization of Ontario’s tax system. We support a tax system that generates the funds necessary for required public services while creating jobs that enrich our natural wealth and our communities.
“It’s time for politicians to stop punting problems to our kids,” says GPO leader Mike Schreiner. “Now is the time to put politics aside and tackle head on these big ticket items in order to balance the books efficiently and fairly.”
CONTACT: Jaymini Bhikha Cell: 416-275-8573 Office: 416-977-7476 jbhikha@gpo.ca
Green Party of Ontario PO Box 1132 Toronto, ON M4Y 2T8 Canada
Ontario Announces Measures To Increase School Bus Safety
Ontario’s government for the people has announced new measures to give municipalities the tools they need to target drivers who threaten the safety of children crossing roads to get to and from their school bus.
The proposed regulations will allow for more efficient enforcement and prosecution by allowing evidence from school bus cameras to be used in court without the requirement of an additional witness.
The Ministry of Transportation’s proposed new measures will help communities like Haldimand and Norfolk improve the safety of students on school buses and hold irresponsible drivers accountable:
“The safety of our most precious resource, our children, is our government’s number one priority,” said Minister Yurek. “We intend to create a regulatory framework that will allow for more efficient enforcement and prosecution to keep our children safer.”
“These proposed regulations will increase safety for children across Ontario,” said Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford. “Parents in Oxford know we’re committed to ensuring their children who travel to and from school by bus are safe.”
“I’m proud to be a part of a government that is finding simple solutions to keep our children safer,” said Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma.
Ontario also plans to introduce legislation that, if passed, would allow municipalities to target drivers who threaten the safety of children on school buses with new, additional monetary penalties.
Quick Facts:
Each school day, more than 837,000 students travel in a school vehicle in Ontario.
Injuries and fatalities, which are very rare, happen more often outside the school bus as students are boarding and leaving the bus or crossing the street.
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Spring budget is not the relief Ontario needs
As many will know, this spring’s Ontario budget proposes a spending spree that calls for billions more in debt, and six additional years of deficit. This was supposed to be a balanced budget.
The tax hikes to pay for these promises have already started. For example, a carton of smokes just went up four dollars. Massive tax hikes have been announced on everything from personal income taxes to railway right-of-ways. The increases amount to over $2 billion over the next three years. These new taxes will hit 1.8 million working people, as well as tens of thousands of businesses.
The day after the budget, Ontario’s governing party, supported by the third party, voted down my Private Member’s motion to reduce taxes where feasible; to not introduce any new taxes and not raise existing taxes.
My view, as reflected in my motion, is Ontario taxpayers are having a hard time making ends meet. In the best interest of individuals, businesses and hardworking families — as well as for Ontario’s economy — government must provide measures that will give taxpayers relief.
High taxes kill jobs, undermine government revenues and slow economic growth. That’s why the government of Ontario must hold the line and, where appropriate, cut provincial income taxes.
Tax cuts, or at a minimum holding the line on taxes, are an integral part of any comprehensive economic policy that includes the elimination of bureaucratic red tape, restructuring of government services for greater efficiency, and balancing the books.
Instead of a knee-jerk reaction to pick taxpayers’ pockets, government should seek efficiencies– cutting the waste and cutting red tape, before thinking of tapping tapped-out taxpayers. This current government does not have a tax revenue problem, but rather a serious spending problem.
I would add Ontario residents today are not only living under the burden of high taxes, but also high electricity and energy costs. On top of that, it seems just about every provincial fee, stipend and revenue tool under the sun has been increased over the past decade-and-a-half. Many families just can’t afford to make these extra expenditures. So forget about a new fridge, new stove, home repairs, a new car, or dinner out.
A strong economy is no accident. It takes careful budgeting and decision-making by government in order to help keep the economy rolling and, perhaps more importantly, strong planning must keep government out of the way. Behind all government services that matter to people – accessible health care, quality education, safe communities – there is a strong economy. Without a strong economy, Ontario would not be able to reinvest in these important programs.
The present Ontario government is mortgaging the future—Ontario’s future—on a generation that doesn’t even have a running start due to fiscal mismanagement. It’s not only our children, but also our grandchildren and future generations who are going to be burdened with paying off government debt through ever-increasing taxes. To paraphrase the famous quote from Ben Franklin – in today’s Ontario, nothing can be certain except death, debt and taxes.
If this vote on my motion two days after the budget is any indication, we could be in for more years of taxing and spending if this government returns to power.
Toby Barrett iMPP for Haldimand-Norfolk