NO REAL LEADERSHIP FROM MCGUINTY ON
FISCAL GAP
Tory calls on McGuinty to take constructive action to address growing concern
(Toronto, ON) – Opposition Leader John Tory today said that Ontario’s fiscal gap is continuing to grow because Dalton McGuinty has not put forward concrete proposals to actually fix the problem or taken advantage of opportunities to address the issue.
“We all agree that there is a fiscal imbalance – we have been talking about this for a long time,” said Tory. “The problem is that Dalton McGuinty is not demonstrating real leadership on this issue. Issuing press releases and giving speeches just won’t be enough.”
Tory expressed concern over a recent report from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce this week that revealed that Ontario risks becoming a have-not province by 2010 if the federal government does not change its formula for calculating equalization payments and transfer programs.
He went on to outline a number of opportunities that Dalton McGuinty has missed to address this issue. These missed opportunities include:
· Not convening a single issue meeting of the Council of Confederation as suggested by John Tory several months ago;
· Not raising the issue for substantive discussion at the Premiers’ conference in Alberta; and
· Not putting forward concrete proposals in the meeting with Prime Minister Martin in May, instead going into the meeting with arbitrary figures and coming out with already announced money
Tory repeated his call for work to be done on a longer-term solution to the fiscal imbalance by bringing together all of the partners of Confederation to identify the needed, broad-ranging reforms to federal-provincial finances, including thoughtful and fair reforms to equalization.
He expressed significant concern about the fact that the federal government continues to have massive surpluses each year while most provincial governments are facing major budgetary crises. He also criticized the effectiveness of the current approach, which features quick fixes and short-term agreements on specific issues.
