Mr. Speaker,
Thank you for including me in today's debate on the 2010 Ontario Budget.
It is always a privilege to have the opportunity to address this distinguished Chamber on the priorities that my constituents in Nepean-Carleton share with Ontarians.
Former Prime Minister Joe Clark once referred to Canada as a "community of communities" and I can't help but think he was thinking of communities like Nepean-Carleton who are large, diverse and built on Matthew 19:19's fundamental premise love thy neighbour as thyself"
This year, I am particularly pleased to enter the budget debate, because it falls so closely to my fourth anniversary as an MPP in this Chamber . . . and furthermore, that my maiden speech in this House - four years ago- also spoke to the priorities of my community during the 2006 Budget.
Four years and two elections later, I continue to bring to this place a desire to protect the values that are shared by the people of North Gower, Manotick, Osgoode, Greely, Riverside South and Barrhaven.
Those are the values of safe streets, strong families and self reliance.
People like Nancy Davis, Sue Ayyad, Anna Suzuki, Kim Sheldrick and Kelly Ross have sent me to Queen's Park to defend our suburban-rural way of life in Nepean-Carleton.
They expect me to stand up for our seniors in our community who have given us so much like Ron Shurtliff, Walter Foster, Eldon Brownlee and Arthur Rice.
They expect me to stand up for families like Steve and Ann Noonan's, Karla and Doug Clark's or Richard and Karen Fromm's.
And they expect me to stand up for small business. Like the family run businesses of Barrhavenlive.ca, Randy's Pools and Spa's or Earl Stanley's Maple Lane Farm.
The people of Nepean-Carleton expect that the Ontario budget would reflect their values.
They expect their budget to reflect their priorities and they expect that their province will also defend Ontario's seniors, families and small businesses . . . all who contribute to a community that not only cherishes safe streets, strong families and self reliance, but who also live it.
Sadly, the most recent McGuinty Liberal budget does not reflect the values or the priorities of the people of Nepean-Carleton.
Please allow me to explain why.
In my maiden speech to this Chamber just four years ago, I pointed out that
"D. Aubrey Moodie founded what is Nepean and he did it based on family values that were learned on the farm and in the rural communities that surrounded Ottawa, values that we can truly be thankful for today.
"Self-reliance, hard work and honesty -- the archetypical virtues of humanity that when applied to governance made governance work. That spirit still lives today in my community of Nepean-Carleton, where families still work hard for their community and for each other."
That spirit however Mr. Speaker is threatened by this most recent budget.
When government takes away the incentive for hardwork and replaces it with high taxes, more regulations and reliance on bureaucracy our communities suffer.
In Nepean-Carleton I am proud of the people who give to our community so that it remains strong and so it will grow.
People like Joe and Linda Price of PJ Quigley's restaurant make sure almost every sports team and church has support in their fundraising efforts. They very much live off their drive to give back.
Same with Andrea Steenbakkers who works for so many great community led initiatives such as Barrhaven Run for Rogers and St. Andrews School Council.
Or Manotick's own Grace Aghostino who has been quietly raising money for an orphanage in Haiti. She's supported by Alan Hahn and Jeffrey Morris- Mr. Morris of the Barrhaven Independent is quite possibly Mr. Community himself.
And then there are the people like Meredith Brophy, Ron Issac, his son Jason Issac and Marlene Casey and Kris Shulz, each giving back to their communities every single day in their numerous volunteer activities.
This budget sends the wrong message to these community activists.
It tells them they should rely on government; leave it to government to do what they and our community do better.
Instead, I agree with Ronald Reagan.
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
And this budget, for all it claims to support forgot many segments in society- small business, families and seniors.
And it forgot farmers, who again built Ontario with their strong work ethic.
I had the privilege to meet with retired cattle farmer John Newman last week. We talked a lot about this government's approach to agriculture.
I'm disappointed that the 2010 Budget speech neither mentioned agriculture nor the family farm once.
A livelihood and way of life for so many in my community- like Dwight Foster, Peter Ruiter, Brent Taylor and Ed Schouten- was not even so much acknowledged by the Finance Minister in his budget address.
It seems as though, as suggested by our Agriculture Critic the Member from Oxford last week, that leadership on the agricultural file has been relegated to "lobbyist". That's not how to support our farmers.
The families of Nepean-Carleton were disappointed in this government. Parents are justifiably concerned with the state of Ontario's books today and what the most recent tax hikes are going to mean for them and their children.
For example Mr. Speaker, hardworking and community minded families like Stef and Melanie Gauthier's or Cheryl and Hugh Cooper's have budgets.
They would be shocked at how the Liberals have mismanaged their tax dollars, especially because they work so hard to pay their taxes, live by the rules and support their neighbours.
And what kind of message is this budget sending to students like Ashley Croke or Cassandra Edwards? That their student loan debt is not the only debt they have to worry about?
I am not sure they can fathom that Ontario has:
• Tripled its reliance on federal welfare payments. There was a time in this province, just six short years ago, when Dalton McGuinty came to office, that have-not status and equalization payments would have been unthinkable.
• Dalton McGuinty will also have doubled his debt by the time he took office in 2003 to when he leaves in 2011. That means the household share of the provincial debt for Paul and Krista MacKenzie's Barrhaven family went from $30,000 in 2003 to $60,000.
• And Dalton McGuinty has also presided over a deficit which is now larger than the deficits of the 9 other provinces combined.
• Clearly not a priority, Mr. McGuinty proved the debt and deficit were an afterthought when he relegated them to the second last page in the budget document.
Mr. Speaker, the families in Kars, Vernon, Metcalfe, Craig Henry and Findlay Creek are getting nothing in return from this government except:
- A massive $15 Billion Health Tax
- A $3 Billion HST that takes affect on Canada Day and
- A $1 Billion e-Health boondoggle.
• And hidden fees and taxes like the Eco-tax that takes affect tomorrow or the hydro tax that will come into law later this year.
It is getting tougher by the minute to raise a family in Dalton McGuinty's Ontario. We are going to reach the tipping point soon enough. Because Mr. Speaker, enough is enough.
I am fortunate to have a loving family. My husband Joe and my daughter Victoria mean everything to me. I see our friends with small children too, they're trying to pay their mortgage, put gas in the car and food on the table and hope there's money left over for soccer or hockey registration with the Nepean Hotspurs or the Metcalfe Jets.
With Mr. McGuinty's continued taxation it's going to be tough for some of them to put their kids in sports and even then, kids sports registration is going to increase because of the HST. Janice Crowe of the Studio School of Dance in Nepean teaches hundreds of kids each year to dance, she also offers summer camps, unfortunately, kids wanting to express themselves through dance and parents who want to give them that gift will be forced to spend an extra 8% once the HST becomes law on July 1st.
Families are working to make ends meet and I can't for the life of me understand why the Liberals are penalizing middle income families.
And likely the only group more targeted by the 2010 Liberal Budget than Ontario's families are Ontario's seniors.
How Mr. McGuinty thinks Helen Byers, Shirley Mahoney or Helen and Vern Foster can afford to give him thousands of dollars more in hidden fees and taxes, including the new Hydro tax, Mr. McGuinty's 11.6% rate increase on hydro and the 8% HST tax on all this hydro is beyond me.
Because of this budget, and Mr. McGuinty's history of massive spending and little regard for restraint, particularly during tough economic times, seniors have been unfairly tapped to balance his budget.
How much more are seniors living at Robertson House, Thorncliffe Place, Prince of Wales Manor or Orchard View Living Centre expected to take?
These are the people who have built this province, who fought for our country. It is unfair that in addition to paying 8% more for a variety of their services, he's going to tack on another 8% to mutual funds, haircuts and funeral services.
And with all the extra revenue Mr. McGuinty is going to reap from our seniors, they will still have to contend with a healthcare system that has long wait lists, that is contemplating firing nurses and that is affected by a shortage of Long Term Care beds . . . At the last count I believe we are short 250 beds in the City of Ottawa alone.
And Nepean-Carleton business people haven't escaped the wrath of Dalton McGuinty's tax and spend budget either.
Today they're grappling with the 3rd hike to the minimum wage in 3 years. That's tough for business owners like Ken and Kelly Ross of Ross' Independent, who like so many others, give back so much more than they ever get so we can have a strong community.
Realtor's like Betty Hillier or healthcare professionals like Victoria Clark and Salima Ismail have not been spared. The dreaded HST is going to cost them as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee, Korean immigrants to Canada have worked hard to build their Brown's dry cleaning business in Barrhaven. On July 1st dry cleaning bills will go up by 8% and that's going to affect their bottom line. Simply. It's unfair.
At a recent Barrhaven Business Exchange Breakfast meeting, I was told time and again by local business owners that the HST is going to hurt- not help- them.
Just ask John Herbert of the Ottawa Homebuilder's Association how the HST is going to impact the home renovation sector . . . an often quoted statistic of what happened in Nova Scotia after the HST was implemented suggests only one third of the industry stayed in business while another third went out of business and a further third went underground.
The attacks on small business have me very concerned that projects to revitalize the Bells Corner's business area will be in danger if this government doesn't get back on track.
After all, Ontario relies on a strong small business sector to create jobs. With increased regulatory and taxation burdens, the job creation climate has been stifled.
Mr. Speaker, this budget lost credibility with everyday Ontarians.
Amid the billions wasted in scandal at e-Health, OLG, WSIB, Cancer Care Ontario and now at his local health bureaucracies, the LHIN's, Ontarians cannot for the life of them understand why they should pay more and get less to help Mr. McGuinty out of this mess.
I have heard from dozens of constituents who are fed up with a growing sunshine list. More people than ever before are making over $100,000 on the taxpayer dime.
Last week it was revealed there are 10,000 more people making over $100,000 in Ontario's public service than there were just last year- of that 225 employees from the disgraced e-Health are taking in over $100,000.
Small business owners like Thom Bennett of Bennett Insurance, Michele Brydges of ACT 2 Consignment and Ozzie and Caroline Rossi of La Porto A Casa work darn hard to make their businesses viable, employ staff and pay their taxes all before taking home a paycheck themselves.
Under the McGuinty Liberals, however, Ontario's private sector is being outpaced by the public sector and it's not sustainable.
But that's no surprise. Dalton McGuinty has tripled the number of people making over $100,000 in the public service since he took office. Included on the sunshine list are LHIN CEO's who received a $15,000 raise in one year alone. In fact, in the short 3 year existence of these LHINS people making over $100,000 has tripled.
I'm not sure there is a person at the Bell's Corner, Osgoode, South Carleton, Greely or Barrhaven Legions who can understand why precious healthcare dollars are being spent on bloated bureaucracies.
And I know Ontarians cannot understand how Dalton McGuinty can justify paying $25 Million in severances to people who are not losing their jobs.
That's why PC Leader Tim Hudak is calling on the McGuinty Liberals to support his budget amendment that would redefine who is entitled to severance and who is not.
We believe if you do not lose your job or miss a day of work, you ought not receive severance.
It's also why PC Leader Tim Hudak offered 10 ideas that Mr. McGuinty could have adopted today to get Ontario working again, to help ease the pain of those 200,000 Ontarians who have lost well paying manufacturing jobs.
Mr. Hudak's solutions, which can be found at www.10for2010.ca, are simple and can easily be implemented today.
They include:
1. Suspend the Tax on New Jobs
2. Eliminate Job Killing Red Tape and Regulations
3. Make Home Ownership More Affordable
4. Restore Balance to the WSIB System
5. Expand Job Opportunities for Young Workers
6. Create Jobs in Northern Ontario
7. Cut Wasteful Government
8. Stop Corporate Welfare
9. Cap Spending
10. Bring Public Sector Agreements in Line with Reality
Mr. Speaker, Ontario can lead again.
The people of Nepean-Carleton like Bill Tupper, Gib Patterson and Norm MacDonald deserve no less.
I conclude Mr. Speaker with an observation I made four years ago in my maiden speech:
"Whether you are a farmer in Nepean-Carleton or live in the GTA or northern Ontario, you should be able to expect that the government will work for you and will treat you equally and with respect, but clearly it is not the case under this current government."
Mr. Speaker, it is clear with the runaway spending, waste and mismanagement of this government and the lack of priorities in this budget that the McGuinty Liberals have become disconnected with the people they have been sent here to represent.
Further Mr. Speaker, based on this 2010 Liberal budget there is a major disconnect with the people in Nepean-Carleton who value safe streets, strong families and self reliance because this budget attacks those very things.
They have mortgaged not only our speaker, but they have mortgaged our children's. "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today", President Abraham Lincoln once said.
But this is what Mr. McGuinty has attempted to do.
As a result Mr. Speaker, I will be casting my vote against Dalton McGuinty's 2010 budget.
Thank you.
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