NEWS

Ted appeared on Goldhawk Live on May 5, 2008 to speak about Ontario's economy.

To access video clips of his appearance click here, here, here, here, here and here.

Halton Compass column - April 08

Doing what Liberals do

Confronted with looming problems Premier McGuinty is doing what Liberals do – tweaking here, tucking there, but ignoring the elephant in the room.

Taking action means making a decision, forging a direction, accomplishing specifics. It also means that some people will disagree with you, some won't vote for you and your priorities will be exposed to scrutiny.

The McGuinty Liberals are so uncomfortable making tough choices that they avoid making any substantive change at all.

And so it goes.

Now, five years into our latest bout of Liberalism, our economic fever is rising and Ontario has become the weakest province in Canada. More than 72,000 Ontarians have left our province, mainly for Alberta. Ontario is on the verge of needing equalization payments as a have-not province in Confederation. We need strong medicine to cure our economic ills. And the Liberals wonder if we should say the Lord’s Prayer in the Legislature.

Ontario's infrastructure has been neglected. The foundations are beginning to crack. The pressures on roads, rails, and bridges have caught up to us. The Liberals talk about fixing it but there is little evidence of action.

Health care priorities have shifted. The Liberals spent their first term shuffling money from chiropractic, physiotherapy and eye care services into knee replacements, MRIs and cataract surgery. However, while McGuinty rearranged the deck chairs on the good ship Ontario he ignored increased population in the GTA.

The McGuinty government has not provided funding to hospitals that are struggling to keep up with higher demands from increased populations. Without that cash GTA hospitals are in deficit and are seriously looking at laying-off nursing staff. And while wait times on some procedures have been reduced I’m getting letters on other health concerns which have been ignored.

School funding is a problem that will not go away.

Locally our public school board cannot find the money needed for playground equipment and instead demands that already hard pressed taxpayers fundraise for the money. The Premier promised years ago that he would fix the Harris government's funding formula but his lack of action suggests that he’s afraid of the negative reaction to any proposed ‘fix’.

The economic crisis deepens and jobs are leaving the province.

After describing the first signs of trouble as 'a little downturn' and those who were worried as 'cry-babies' the Liberals have done nothing but huddle together and look concerned. They know the problems will pass, but trapped by their ideology they cannot break the inertia of inaction and try measures which would deflect and shorten the downturn. They have decided that ideological purity is more important than solving the problems of Ontarians.

Overly optimistic revenue projections, higher than expected fuel costs and inflation pressures are beginning to bombard our economy. The Liberals have projected a balanced budget, but tagged with unrealistic expectations, it is almost surely going to be a deficit by the end of the year.

The Liberals have done nothing to counteract these challenges. It isn't in their DNA to take them on. It is Liberal policy to ride the wave of good times without regard for how those times became good. It reminds me of the film Groundhog Day; as the Liberals endlessly drag us through the same script over and over, unable to summon the courage to take a different approach.

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 News Release - March 25, 2008

Budget is a recipe for disaster cooked up to silence fiscal critics

“The Ontario budget presented today by Liberal Finance Minister Dwight Duncan is an uninspiring recipe of Liberal spending, salted with a few minor pro-business measures, and served with a thin gruel of hope that the forces buffeting Ontario’s economy will not get any worse. The Liberals think this concoction is enough to spice Ontario’s ailing economy,” said Ted Chudleigh, MPP Halton and Official Opposition Critic to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. “Unfortunately, it is not.”

Mr. Chudleigh said that the McGuinty Liberals are deluding themselves that the small nods served in the budget to address business concerns are enough to save Ontario’s economy. While he applauded the measures taken, he explained that they should have framed a major tax reduction and a serious attempt to cut the cost to business of red tape and government regulation.

“Ontario’s economy is in real danger. Failure by the Liberals to see the danger coming is reminiscent of the Bob Rae NDP who in 1990 decided they would spend their way out of a recession,” said Mr. Chudleigh. “This plan to spend money on infrastructure will at least produce tangible rewards, however, spending to stop a recession fails to address the problems with our fiscal approach which contributed to the economic troubles in the first place.”

Mr. Chudleigh said that Mr. Duncan’s budget has set the stage in Ontario for a protracted economic downturn. Citing figures that Ontario has trailed all other Canadian provinces for the past two years in economic growth, Mr. Chudleigh explained that Ontario has not set itself up to weather the storm of external economic pressures.

“The Liberals have failed to cut capital taxes which kill jobs, they have failed to cut corporate income taxes which pressure small businesses, and they have failed to provide tax relief for Ontarians,” said Mr. Chudleigh. “Ontario is now the highest business tax jurisdiction in Canada.”

Mr. Chudleigh explained that Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have all cut business taxes in recent years.

The budget projects revenues of $96.9 billion, an increase of 41 per cent since 2003. It also projects an increase in program spending of $28.2 billion since 2003, an increase of 48 per cent.

“There is a high degree of risk in this budget that Ontario will slip into deficit,” Mr. Chudleigh said. “Margins are thin, revenue projections are very optimistic and spending is moving ever upward. More than 174,000 manufacturing jobs have left the province since 2005 – that’s 174,000 taxpayers. More than 71,000 Canadians have left Ontario for other provinces in the past two years. That’s a damning indictment of our economic prospects.”

-30-  For more information please contact Ted Chudleigh, MPP Halton – 905-878-1729

Ted recently contributed his comments in verse form during the Member's Statements segment of House Business at the Ontario Legislature.

From March 17, 2008

"I rise today to speak in verse,

Of a new, imposed provincial curse,

So excuse me if my words are terse

But the situation’s getting worse.

 

In this, the former industrial core,

Where once we heard a mighty roar,

Echoing from the factory floor,

Silence looms, they work no more.

 

Hundreds of thousands of jobs disappear

And the Premier says “there’s nothing to fear.”

He says “Simply find a new career

In the business or the service sphere”

 

“Now you may have to move away,

Go back to school, by night or day,

And take a hefty cut in pay,

But otherwise you’ll be OK.”

 

And as workers despair, investors leave,

With little reason or hope to believe

That the Liberal government will ever achieve

Any kind of fiscal reprieve.

 

Economists, you know they back us

In our plan to sever taxes,

But the Premier and his crew relaxes.

They’d rather grind partisan axes.

 

The economy has run amok,

And the worker is the sitting duck.

But who’s to blame for such bad luck?

The Premier? No, he’ll pass the buck.

 

“Blame Ottawa and Flaherty,

Blame China’s new economy,

Blame Western Canada,” says he.

“Blame anyone, just don’t blame me!”

 

From March 26, 2008

A Lament for Ontario

Farewell oh sweet prosperity,

Our long sought after friend.

For years you lived in our fine land,

But now we can't contend.

 

Goodbye oh job security,

The fruit of labor done.

They say that job re-training

Is the new prize that we've won.

 

So long oh public revenue

From corporate business levy.

The cost to public services

Will certainly be heavy.

 

For any percent of zero

Is zero just the same.

And that's how many businesses

Are likely to remain.

 

Oh free market, we will miss you.

Have a lovely time out West.

The government will take your place,

Content to be tenth best.

 

Au revoir oh innovation,

With our best brains you’ll go too.

Alongside our leaving workers,

With wages to pursue.

 

Oh golden age of affluence,

Oh dreams of milk and honey,

Why would you stay in such a place

That takes your hard-earned money?

 

Oh former strong economy

In such a fragile state,

Your obituary’s just released

In “Budget 2008.”

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