September 2016
My fellow Ontarians who voted Liberal in the last provincial election: are you happy now? Are you happy that you stopped that evil Tim Hudak and his cronies from slashing and burning the provincial public service to the tune of 100, 000 workers, a number that was only 40, 000 fewer than OPSEU President Warren “Smokey” Thomas admitted could be lost in the management ranks alone (not from his members, of course). I admit that I cringed when I heard Hudak make that promise, even though I knew it would be done through attrition over several years, because he didn’t make the attrition part of the plan clear until the damage was done.
Every year, numerous provincial workers retire or voluntarily leave for other opportunities. My father was one of the provincial civil servants who took opted to retire when Mike Harris cut the Ontario civil service in 1995. After 33 years service, he was more than happy to pack it in. However my fellow Ontarians who voted Liberal, you opted to save the jobs of 100, 000 people, none of whom would have been lining up at the unemployment office or soup kitchens the next day.
Are you happy that we have skyrocketing hydro rates that can be directly attributed, at least in part, to the disastrous Green Energy Act? Are you happy that we now generate so much hydro that we have to export it at a huge loss to neighbouring jurisdictions pay green producers not to produce hydro? Are you happy that the Liberals continue to sign new contracts for expensive and unreliable wind and solar power contracts?
Are you happy that these same neighbouring jurisdictions are now able to attract manufactures away from Ontario by offering them cheaper power than in Ontario; power that they bought from Ontario at a discount price; power that we are paying severely inflated prices to produce?
Are you happy that under the Liberal, we are the most indebted sub-sovereign borrower in the world? Are you happy that the Liberals have wasted billions and billions and billions of dollars on numerous scandals and foolish ventures like the now-abandoned ORPP, cancelled gas plants and e-Health? Are you happy that the Liberal government has been under five criminal investigations by the provincial police?
Are you happy that the carbon tax that Kathleen Wynne will be introducing starting in January 2017 will take an estimated 1.9 million out of the pockets of Ontarians and make Ontario an even more expensive place to live while doing absolutely NOTHING to combat climate change?
Now, are all of you ready for the cuts that are INDEED going to HAVE TO be made by Patrick Brown when he becomes Premier? Cuts are going to HAVE TO be made if we are going to ever get out of the $350 million debt hole that the Liberals have dug for us. As much as it’s nice to have government supply many important services, they come at a cost and aren’t cheap. Even with the Liberal’s recent promise to cut the provincial portion of the HST off our hydro bills, that tax cut will come from the other taxes that we pay, so don’t be surprised when you don’t end up with more money in your pocket at the end of the day (it will undoubtedly be less). This is of course, not counting the scheduled hydro increase coming this November and the carbon tax that is coming in January. Do you really think the Liberals are going to cut their spending in any way? It has been said many, many times: governments don’t have a revenue problem, they have a spending problem.
We really should accept that government can’t be everything to everyone and insist our politicians, at all levels for that matter, cut spending, even if some programs are affected. Most people live on a budget in their own homes and have to prioritize between needs and wants; between the things that are necessary and the things that make life more enjoyable. How many government programs not only can be cut, but need to be cut? That should be the first priority of a Progressive Conservative government because it’s painfully obvious that the current road we are on is a road to disaster.
There can’t be any more fear-mongering “hidden agendas” in the next election. If there is anyone who doesn’t believe Ontario can’t continue on its current economic course, you are clearly insane. By the way, the Liberals have already been cutting health care, so don’t count on being put in a nice mental health facility.
There certainly is going to be a lot of pressure on PC leader Patrick Brown in the upcoming election. If he can’t defeat Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals, the Progressive Conservative party might as well disband and just let the Liberals govern in perpetuity.
Are you ready for it?
