Ontario has always been known as the province that leads Canada in growth and job creation.

The province that’s “Your’s to Discover” was the place where young people from St John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, B.C. came to find work and raise a family. My grandparents, like many immigrants, chose Ontario of all places because they knew that if they worked hard and played by the rules they could provide a bright future for their children and grandchildren.

This is no longer the case in Dalton McGuinty's Ontario.

Over the past couple of years, Ontario has gone from a leader in economic growth to dead last in all of Canada, according to some of Canada’s leading economic experts.

Those same people from Victoria to St. John’s are now heading to other provinces, such as Alberta, to find the same prosperity and job security that Ontario once offered. Not only that, Ontario is losing its own best and brightest in droves to other provinces. In fact, if it weren’t for immigration, Ontario would have actually suffered a net loss in population last year, due to 30,000 people leaving the province in search of jobs.

Independent organizations such as the C.D. Howe Institute and the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity have criticized the provincial government for imposing the most burdensome business taxes in the country. This on top of runaway spending, a hydro policy that is taking rates thru the roof, and an unsure future for our energy supply has contributed to the loss of 137,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs in Ontario since the start of 2005.

Sadly, Niagara and Hamilton have seen more than their fair share of manufacturing job losses in Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario from Stelco and Slater Steel in Hamilton, to Dana Auto Parts in Thorold, GDX Automotive in Welland, and the Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines.

If Ontario is to return to its historical position as Canada's strongest province, we need to reverse the harmful fiscal policies of the McGuinty Government by: lowering the tax burden and the red tape for businesses, increasing the energy supply, and making sure the government spends within its means and sticks to clear priorities.

This trend of lost jobs in Ontario is only temporary, given the right leadership. Ontario is full of hard-working, talented people and courageous entrepreneurs who will begin to invest and create jobs again if given the right economic climate.