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PC Leader Tim Hudak visits Alliston during Annual OSUM Conference

May 9, 2013   ·   0 Comments

“Too many Ontario communities know the hardship of families struggling to find work, plant closures and kids leaving for better prospects somewhere else. We need a new plan and a new team to kick-start job creation and restore hope,” Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak said during the 60th Annual OSUM (Ontario Small Urban Municipalities) Conference and Trade Show, held at the Nottawasaga Inn in Alliston from May 1 – 3.

Hudak was one of three keynote speakers to address municipal delegates and leaders from across the province. Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne and NDP leader Andrea Horwath also took the podium.

Hudak’s speech, which centered around igniting Ontario’s Economy, which he claims is in danger due to “overspending and debt”.

“(There is) a clear and present danger to this generation of Ontarians and the next,” Hudak went on to say. “But the current government has chosen to continue down a path that will only dig a deeper hole. We need a new plan – one that surges us ahead toward strong, confident and prosperous communities.”

Hudak has been on a province-wide tour spreading his message, and his appearance at the OSUM conference was stop  100 along the way.

“As I travel the province, people tell me things are tough. They ask: “Is this the best Ontario can do?” I say to them, we can do better.

Hudak’s speech built on the  theme of this year’s OSUM Conference, its 60th, “A Brilliant Future”.

“Well, Ontario has a brilliant future too. We all do. If we make the right choices and the right decisions. Starting today. Look around: We’ve got everything we need to succeed. We have a hard-working and skilled workforce. Dedicated and driven entrepreneurs. Vast and valuable resources and fertile farmland the envy of the world over. We border the great North American markets – natural trading partners with millions of consumers.

We have all it takes to make our province the best place in the world to find a good job, raise a family, start a business and see it grow.

But to get started on the path to a revitalized Ontario, we need to be honest about the problems we face: More than half a million people woke up this morning with no job to go to.

Our debt has doubled under this government. And it’s on course to triple.

People understand that our jobs and debt crisis needs to be fixed. It’s not going to fix itself.

So we need two things: A bold, comprehensive plan to put us on the right track, and the leadership to put it into action”.

Hudak also commented on the loss of infrastructure funding for OSUM members.

“…Stable funding for infrastructure – are at risk. Stable and reliable funding for infrastructure, for example, requires a stable and growing economy. That’s not what we’ve got today. A glance at this morning’s budget coverage and analysis tells you everything you need to know on that score.

We’ve got a big problem. And it’s time to be honest and direct about it.

So step one, to ensuring we can deliver on the needs of your communities – and Ontario as a whole – is to end the overspending, and start paying down our debt. We must reduce the size and cost of government. Anyone who tells you they can eliminate a $10 billion deficit without reducing spending is either naïve – or thinks you are.

And here, of course, we’ve got to confront the single biggest cost item in this, or any budget: the government worker payroll. You know, over the past decade we’ve lost 300,000 good, well-paid manufacturing jobs. And at the same time, we’ve added 300,000 bureaucratic jobs to the already bloated government worker payroll in Ontario.

When government’s your only growth industry, it just may be a clue that we’ve got our priorities wrong.

And the price tag that comes with the rising cost of government worker compensation shows a total disrespect for the taxpayers who foot the bill”.

Hudak said, “there are just two important ways in which we can reduce government spending and the burden on municipal taxpayers, in a way that helps OSUM communities meet the needs of the people you serve”. Cutting taxes and making the best use of the tax revenue that is collected.

Hudak also said, “We need to end the chaos in Ontario’s energy sector, returning to reliable and affordable energy rates that businesses and households can depend on” and his PC’s would  help “Ontario’s workforce globally competitive by bringing our labour laws out of the 1940s and into the 21st century”.

“I see an Ontario of great destiny. A province that is going to rise again. The answers to our problems aren’t hard to figure out. They’re just hard to do.

If we make these decisions – and soon – we can bring back jobs and investment to communities across Ontario”.

“We can give hope to small business owners. And to smaller municipalities, struggling to make their own budgetary ends meet,” Hudak concluded. “To the moms and dads in (New) Tecumseh, struggling to make ends meet – help is on the way. And finally, to the businesses, factories and industries looking at other provinces and states, take a good second look at the Ontario we will build – because our comeback is about to begin. So let’s not wait any longer. Let’s start today”.

OSUM, a section of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), was developed to recognize and address the challenges facing small, urban municipalities. It also aims to improve the relationship between levels of government for funding purposes.

By Wendy Soloduik

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