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Scandals leave Ontarians with no confidence in Liberal government

July 4, 2013   ·   0 Comments

Dear editor:

Are scandals and billion dollar deficits becoming the new normal in Ontario?

The McGuinty-Wynne Liberal government wants us to think so. In the last year alone they have snuffed off countless blunders of mismanagement and waste including investigations into Ornge, eHealth and the politically motivated cancellation of two gas plants.

To top it off, the Liberals latest budget calls for another $9.8 billion deficit in 2013 to add to our already astounding $280 billion debt–a debt that has more than doubled since the Liberals have been in power.

This blatant disregard for taxpayer money is unacceptable and is costing us big time.

To put it into perspective, the Gas Plant scandal alone cost Ontarians at least $585,000,000.  This is money that the Liberals diverted from healthcare and education for purely political reasons to save Liberal Party seats in the last election.  The cost of this scandal, for instance, is equivalent to 2,925,000 weeks of groceries at $200/week.

The Ornge scandal cost Ontarians at least $700,000,000. The Auditor General has already revealed that the Liberal government ignored multiple red flag warnings as early as 2008 over the “deceitful” business practices and its plans to use public funds for their for-profit business ventures.   The cost of the Ornge scandal is equivalent to tuition for 97,493 university students.

The eHealth Scandal costs have doubled over the last three years to over $2,000,000,000 despite the Auditor General’s scathing 2009 report that revealed the government failed to properly oversee the initiative. We still have little to nothing to show for this spending disaster as the eHealth projects are either behind schedule, over budget or non-existent.  The cost of this scandal is equivalent to the construction of new hospitals in both Collingwood and Alliston and six others that could have been built throughout Ontario.

A new poll out of QMI Agency reveals that 46% of Ontarians believe the McGuinty-Wynne Liberal government is corrupt while 61% believe the Liberals lied about the Gas Plant scandal.

More spending, more mismanagement, more waste, more taxes, more scandals and more debt.  It’s time the McGuinty-Wynne government is held to account. The Ontario PCs won’t be supporting the budget or propping up a government that can’t be trusted with taxpayer dollars.

As House Leader of the Official Opposition, I recently tabled a Want of Confidence motion to give Ontarians a voice in whether the scandal-plagued Liberals still deserve to run the province. The confidence motion addresses the McGuinty-Wynne government repeatedly putting the political fortunes of the Liberal Party ahead of both the people and the Province of Ontario.

Although the Liberals have blocked debate of my motion, it will be debated through an Opposition Day motion on May 15. I am looking forward to this debate. If you are interested in reading more about these motions please visit my website www.jimwilsonmpp.com

Jim Wilson,

MPP for Simcoe-Grey

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