NEWS:

QUEEN'S PARK-After doubling the debt and tripling the Sunshine List, released today, Lisa MacLeod, MPP and Ontario PC Critic for Revenue and Government Accountability, said Ontario families don't believe Dalton McGuinty's phony restraint measures any longer. They know he only does two things, increase government spending and raise taxes to pay for it.

The 2011 Sunshine List-the annual list of Ontario government employees making over $100,000-has more than tripled under Dalton McGuinty to 71,478. As Ontario families have made sacrifices to make ends meet, the list grew 11 percent in the last year and 68 percent over the last three years.

It's clear Ontario families don't trust Dalton McGuinty to get his runaway spending under control and provide them with the relief they deserve. To give families a break, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak recently introduced legislation called the Agencies, Board, and Commissions Sunset Review Act. This Bill calls for a mandatory value-for-tax-dollar review of any government agency funded by or established with government spending.

QUOTES:

"It's no wonder Dalton McGuinty is on track to double Ontario's debt. While he's stretching Ontario family budgets to the limit, he has allowed the list of six-figure salaried government employees to triple under his watch."

--Lisa MacLeod, MPP and Ontario PC Critic for Revenue and Government Accountability

"The list has grown to over 71,400 public sector employees. That's like handing every man, woman and child in the city of Sarnia a six-figure salary, paid for in your tax dollars."

--Lisa MacLeod, MPP and Ontario PC Critic for Revenue and Government Accountability

QUICK FACTS:

• Under Dalton McGuinty, the Sunshine List has more than tripled from 20,249 in 2003 to 71,478, which is more than the population of Sarnia, Ontario
  (Population: 71,419; Statistics Canada, 2006 Census). 
• The Sunshine List grew 11 percent over last year (63,761 on the 2010 list) and 68 percent (42,457 on the 2008 list) over the last three years. 
• Some of Dalton McGuinty's most bloated bureaucracies saw even bigger increases this year. The number of LHIN staff on the list grew by 19 percent. The number of Ontario Power Authority staff on the list grew by 21 percent.