QUEEN’S PARK – The Ontario Legislature resumed from extended winter recess on Monday, allowing Tim Hudak, MPP for Niagara West-Glanbrook, to continue championing the priorities of Stoney Creek, Glanbrook and west Niagara residents from the Assembly floor.

Among the top priorities Hudak has set for the new session is to address Ontario’s lagging economy and push forward recommendations that will help to reverse the flight of well-paying jobs from Niagara and Hamilton. Since the beginning of 2005, Ontario has lost more than 180,000 manufacturing jobs, including jobs at National Steel Car in Hamilton and CanGro Foods in Niagara.

On the first day of the Legislature, Hudak challenged Premier McGuinty in Question Period to make the Ontario economy more attractive for business investment.

“Ontario’s manufacturing job losses exceed those of all of the other provinces combined,” Hudak said. “The McGuinty government must take immediate action by cutting taxes for businesses and for Ontario families and reduce red tape to once again make our province attractive for jobs and investment.”

In the session ahead, Hudak will also continue to call on the provincial government to come to the table with real solutions for greenbelt farmers, including grape and tender fruit growers who have been affected by the closure of the CanGro plant and the Cadbury Schweppes plant last summer.

“Dalton McGuinty likes to boast about the greenbelt, but basically all we've seen him do is draw a series of lines on the map and then simply walk away from any obligation,” Hudak said. “If the Province is going to freeze a farmer’s land and impose the strictest regulations on what he can do with his land, then the Province must make every effort to help farmers find a profitable market for their product.”

Other local issues Hudak plans to pursue during the upcoming session include:

• Seeking provincial funding to curb gypsy moth infestation throughout Hamilton, Niagara and surrounding regions via a gypsy moth spraying program;
• Pressing for accelerated construction of the Mid-Peninsula Corridor Highway, a plan that has stalled under the McGuinty government;
• Advancing the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital and McNally House hospice projects;
• Establishing a health card renewal clinic in Glanbrook; and
• Expanding the protected area around the Eramosa Karst Conservation Area in Stoney Creek.

Hudak will also continue to push forward his Private Member’s Bills (PMBs) to see they become Ontario law. The two PMBs Hudak has introduced so far are:

• The Homestead Act, 2007 – which aims to cap skyrocketing property assessment increases at five per cent per year and, in the event of an assessment appeal, place the onus on the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. (MPAC) to justify an increase in assessment.

• Direct Election of the Niagara Regional Chair Act, 2007 – which would give Niagara residents the opportunity to directly elect the chair of Niagara Regional Council, along with its regional representatives, starting with the 2010 municipal election.