Yesterday in this space, we talked about how PC leader John Tory is trying to refocus his party's message away from education (and particularly, the faith-based funding initiative) and more towards what Tory calls "the free spending, high taxing, economic train wreck" for which he believes the McGuinty government is responsible.
Tory notes:
* Some economists forecast Ontario will be "have not" province by 2010.
* Economic growth is the least of any province in 2008.
* Employment is down 15% over 2007.
* Visitors to the province are off 35% over 2007.
* Despite significant government subsidies, the auto sector has shed 2,600 jobs.
* The population of Ontario declined by a net 36,000 inhabitants in 2007.
Tory's conclusion: "This was the place to stand and grow. Ontarians are now selling their stake in the province by selling themselves like stocks," to other jurisdictions.
With that economic predicament staring us in the face, Tory is fanning out across the province to trumpet his alternative plan. I caught his speech last week before 100 members of the Rotary Club of Toronto at the Royal York hotel.
John Tory, speaking last Friday, to the Rotary Club of Toronto at the Royal York Hotel.
There are five points to Tory's message:
1. A competitive tax environment: Tory claims the level of taxation on new businesses in Ontario is the highest in the country.
2. Regulatory sanity: "We can't continue to allow the government to be the adversary to those who create jobs."
3. Skills retraining: Tory notes the centrepiece of the last Liberal budget provided enough funding to retrain 20,000 laid off workers --- just one-tenth of the actual need.
4. Public sector restraint: Tory says Ontarians have created 400,000 new jobs over the past four years, but that more than half of them are in the public sector. He thinks the growth of the public sector relative to the private sector is dangerous, and notes the number of provincial government employees earning more than $100,000 annually rose by 27% this past year. "When you're spending $100 billion a year, the least you can do is show some restraint," Tory says.
5. Short term relief: Tory would take the retail sales tax off hotels and tourism attractions over the summer months. Unlike a cut in the gas tax (advocated by Hillary Clinton and John McCain), Tory believes hotels and tourism attractions wouldn't simply raise their prices (as gas stations would), thereby rendering the tax cuts irrelevant.
Almost two decades ago during the worst recession since the Great Depression, Premier Bob Rae discovered he could increase government spending by $1 billion and the effect would be to lower the unemployment rate by only 1-point and then only temporarily.
Can the Ontario government --- a $100 billion enterprise, in effect --- really have that much influence on the economy?
"I don't accept that the premier of Ontario is a hapless bystander with no influence on the economy," Tory says.
It's true that not all Ontarians have had their fill of the faith-based education funding debate. But with some parts of Ontario facing dire economic circumstances, it seems appropriate that John Tory is kick-starting a new debate on just what a provincial government can do to improve matters.
Feel free to opine below on whether you think he's on the right track.
