Tim Hudak: The Liberal legacy of waste,
The Liberal premiers both admitted to putting their political futures ahead of the province’s well being
Warren buffett once said that in government “when the choice is between the next generation and the next election, it’s never even close. The next election always wins.”
There is much to be admired about Mr. buffett and his thinking, but if Ontario is to get on the right track and meet its promise, we must and will prove him wrong.
This is the lesson of the gas plant scandal. even more important than the cost is what it says about the Liberal government’s approach to running the province.
dalton McGuinty testified he made a snap decision to move two power plants without a single thought to the cost or bothering to analyze the commercial impact. Kathleen Wynne’s signature on the key cabinet document authorizing the move shows she either didn’t read what she was signing or is misleading us about her role. both Liberal premiers do admit, however, that the gas plant cancellations were a “political decision” — at least clarity about their motivation has managed to escape their efforts to bury the rest of what really happened.
And with yesterday’s Auditor-General’s report, maybe they will now finally admit their decision cost taxpayers hundreds of millions, and not the $40-million they first claimed.
This is not the first time these Liberal premiers have made decisions to benefit their political careers at the expense of Ontarians. I concluded some time ago that there is a deliberate pattern in this government’s thinking and decision making. everything is done for short-term political gain. The gas plant scandal isn’t isolated. It’s just the latest indictment in an established pattern of failed decision making. you can see the results of 10 years of bad choices.
you can see it in health care. billions of dollars wasted using hand-picked consultants in a failed attempt to create an electronic health-record system. Millions more wasted on a massively expensive new layer of bureaucracy, the LHINs, designed to insulate the government from account- ability for front-line health care. you can see it in a green energy scheme that turned Ontario’s traditional strength of affordable energy on its head. It’s been a bonanza for those who were handed lucrative contracts by a government who never understood the complexities of the com- mercial agreements they were handing out or the impact on energy prices, job creation and long-term economic growth.
For all of those who wondered why I took such a clear stand against the last two McGuinty-Wynne budgets, now you have your answer. It’s in the admission we’ve heard from McGuinty and Wynne that they justify their decisions based on what is best for them, not Ontario.
It’s time to prove Warren buffett wrong. This isn’t about the next election; this is about the next generation.
The choices we make today aren’t just about us. They’re about our children and grandchildren. They’re about our aging parents, the sick and disabled who count on their government to have the will and the means to help them when they need us the most.
We need to put Ontario on a completely different track. We need to make clear choices about reducing the size and cost of government, get runaway spending under control, and begin making the difficult decisions that will enable us to pay our bills and reduce our debt. We need to unwind bad economic decisions that forced higher energy costs onto job creators, enshrined outdated labour laws that made us less competitive, and entangled entrepreneurs in so much red tape they said “why bother” and chose to open businesses elsewhere, if at all.
If we don’t do these things we will lose the essential quality of life that has traditionally made Ontario the kind of place people want to live, work and raise a family.
It’s easy to say the gas plants are just another scandal, or that the problems are too complex, or that no one cares about the issues of debt and deficit. but we must care. Given what is at stake for all of us, and for the future of our children and our province, we must do better and we must do it now.
It’s time for a change.