John Tory slams new provincial budget

BY TIM RIGBY The Business Executive

OAKVILLE—Immediately after Liberal Finance Minister Greg Sorbara announced the Ontario provincial budget, the criticism from the opposition party flowed fast and furious.

Leading the charge for the opposition once again was Conservative leader John Tory, who spoke to the Oakville Chamber of Commerce on March 26 at the Oakville Conference Centre.

Tory led off his remarks by acknowledging Joyce Savoline, former Chair of Halton Region and the newest member of the Conservative caucus. He also mentioned the nomination of Rick Byers as the Conservative candidate in Oakville.

Although the Town of Oakville is not officially a city, Tory said that Byers “cares about this city and its issues.”

Tory said that residents of Oakville and the rest of the province should ask themselves three questions about the 2007 McGuinty budget.

“First, is there any sign of a plan here to make Ontario stronger, to make us a leader again or to secure a better future for our children?”

“Second, for all of the massive spending increases presided over by Mr. McGuinty, are we as taxpayers and as citizens seeing real results?”

The third question offered by Tory was categorically a political slam, but he did make sure to tie it in with the budget.

“Given Dalton McGuinty’s track record when it comes to keeping his word, should we believe anything in the budget?”

Tory painted a very gloomy picture for the province, which he said is “slipping under Dalton McGuinty’s watch” and whose population would have declined, had it not been for new Canadians.

“These are all signs that people are hurting out there,” said Tory. “Good, hard-working Ontarians, who play by the rules and pay their taxes, and are only looking for a little bit of self-respect, and for some reason to hope. Yet these same hard-working Ontarians have found themselves once again completely neglected by the 2007 budget.”

Tory did briefly mention his alternative to the current budget situation and theorized about what Conservative action might be.

“We will insist that the taxpayer gets better value and results,” said Tory. “We will eliminate the health tax. We will institute a real fix for homeowners suffering from skyrocketing property assessments.”

Tory also offered a theory about the McGuinty governments budget management.

“You just know that they are blowing hundreds of millions we don’t know about on the bigger programs.”

Within the same week as Tory’s address, Minister Sorbara also visited Oakville and delivered a speech concerning the new provincial budget. TBE