Now that Ontario’s Legislature has resumed meeting, I want to take this opportunity to share with local families the key priorities you can count on the Ontario PC Caucus to work on throughout the spring. First, we will continue to fight for more private sector jobs and a stronger economy. From the families I meet from Pelham to Mount Hope, Windsor to Thunder Bay, the message I hear from local families and small businesses is the same – we all have to make creating sustainable jobs our number one priority. The path the McGuinty Government currently has us on is clearly not working. Throughout 2009, Dalton McGuinty promised to create over a million new jobs yet, in reality, he presided over the loss of 140,000 net jobs. Niagara region families are being hit particularly hard with our unemployment rate still well above the provincial and national averages. These are all clear signs that Dalton McGuinty’s tax more, spend more and regulate more policies are failing to help small businesses create the jobs we need.

There was a time, not too long ago, when Ontario provided abundant opportunities for its homegrown businesses to grow and expand into new frontiers. At the same time, international companies did not need any hand-outs to recognize that Ontario was a great place in which to invest and do business. Those days are long behind us. Despite piling up massive amounts of new debt due to so-called ‘stimulus’ spending, the McGuinty Government still presided over the loss of more than 140,000 net jobs in 2009 alone. This begs the question, where is all of our money going? We received one big hint last week, when Dalton McGuinty announced a deal that will force Ontario families and businesses to pay a multibillion dollar subsidy to the foreign based multinational conglomerate Samsung. Amazingly, despite Dalton McGuinty’s big promises, nowhere in the McGuinty-Samsung deal is there any guarantee that this subsidy will create a single Ontario job. Worse still is the fact that, as part of this deal, Samsung will be receiving a special $437 million payment that is being denied to Ontario businesses. Even if Dalton McGuinty’s big job promises were to be believed, this sweetheart subsidy works out to a massive $303,000 per job.

The resignations of two high profile ministers earlier this month prompted Dalton McGuinty to shuffle his cabinet. In all, 15 Liberal members were involved in the shuffle, including three ministers who got shuffled right out of a job. What was shocking is none of the three ministers who got the boot from Dalton McGuinty are the ones running the province’s three major economic portfolios – Dwight Duncan, Sandra Pupatello and Peter Fonseca. Duncan, who has been the Minister of Finance for two years, Pupatello, who has been the Minister of Economic Development and Trade for more than three years, and Fonseca, who has been Minister of Labour for well over one year – along with Dalton McGuinty – are the architects of Ontario’s massive job losses and record debt. These were the thinkers behind the so-called “jobs budget”, which promised to create 140,000 new jobs in 2009. The reality is the economy lost 141,600 jobs in the last year. In fact, Ontario shed 16,600 jobs in December alone – by far the worst economic performance in the country. It wasn’t always this way. There was a time when companies, both foreign and home grown, saw our province as a place they wanted to invest in because there were abundant opportunities waiting for them here. After six years Dalton McGuinty has brought the Ontario economy to an embarrassing new low.

In a time of change and new beginnings in Ontario, Premier George Drew helped to build Ontario’s modern day economic engine and lay the foundation upon which it still runs upon today. Drew was elected to lead a minority government in 1943. He would achieve a majority two years later just as the Second World War was drawing to an end. Drew, a veteran of the First World War who preferred to be known as ‘Colonel Drew’ for many of his years in political life, had become well known across Canada as a staunch critic of the federal Liberal government’s management of soldiers during the war. As Canadian soldiers returned home from war, Ontario was presented with an opportunity for economic growth, but it faced many challenges in keeping pace with its North American competitors. In 1948, Drew announced an ambitious $400 million plan to enhance Ontario Hydro’s electricity grid to bring it in line with surrounding jurisdictions. With the new electrical system, Drew could assure manufacturers and investors an unlimited power supply. He subsequently commissioned an enormous network of new highways and roads to encourage manufacturers to expand their businesses and invest in Ontario.

The New Year is traditionally a time for us to look back and be thankful for the blessings that that have come our way. As 2009 draws to an end, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Niagara and Hamilton communities for all of your support as your Member of Provincial Parliament. This has certainly been a memorable year for me. This summer, I became leader of the Ontario PC Party and the Leader of Ontario’s Official Opposition. It was humbling to see so many people from the local community volunteer to lend a hand to our campaign and I remain grateful to everyone who helped out. Since I became Leader, I have been amazed by the number of people who wrote cards, letters and e-mails to my office, whether they were sending words of encouragement, asking serious questions about government policy, or even offering some constructive advice. This kind of feedback is fundamental to our democracy and I want to thank everyone who has participated. Today Ontario taxpayers know they have a champion in the Ontario PC Caucus that is providing a real voice for seniors, middle class families and small businesses. It has also been an eventful year here in Niagara West-Glanbrook.

The Holidays are a time when we get together with our loved ones to give thanks for the year just ending while looking forward with optimism to the year ahead. Christmas is also a time to remember those who are less fortunate than us, and reach out to people in need. There are many worthy community, religious and charitable groups in the Niagara and Hamilton area that deserve our support. In the West Niagara community we have organizations like Community Care of West Niagara in Beamsville (905-563-5822), the Grimsby Benevolent Fund Food Bank (905-309-5664), West Lincoln Community Care (905-957-5882) and Pelham Cares (905 892-5300). And in the Stoney Creek and Glanbrook communities we have organizations like Glanbrook Community Food Bank (905-692-3781), Hamilton Food Share (905-664-9065) and Stoney Creek Community Foodbank (905-664-2252‎). Of course there are also the Lions and Lionesses, Kinsmen and Kinettes, and many other local community groups and clubs that always do wonderful work and would surely welcome an extra pair of hands this time of year. I am always moved to see so many families doing their part to give back to the community and help the most vulnerable among us. And I want to thank those families for giving back.

As I travel the province I hear time and time again from seniors and retirees who are concerned about Dalton McGuinty’s plan to merge the PST and GST, into a single $3 billion HST tax grab. If the HST comes in to effect on July 1, 2010, an additional 8 per cent tax will be applied to a whole new range of goods and services previously not taxed in Ontario. Seniors on fixed incomes will be forced to pay more for essentials such as hydro, home heating fuel, natural gas, haircuts, gasoline, home repairs, funerals, lawn maintenance and snow removal. Seniors’ housing costs will also be adversely affected by the HST which will result in higher rent, condo fees, nursing home costs, and service prices at residential care facilities. Seniors and retirees who have prudently invested in mutual funds will see the cost of their mutual fund fees shoot up. Insurance premiums, lawyer and estate planning fees will also increase in price. And because of the HST, it will become more expensive for seniors to lead active and healthy lives with increased prices for golf green fees, driving range fees, skiing, curling, bicycles and bicycle safety equipment, gym memberships and even vitamins.

Canadian veterans should not be used as political props. Sadly, that’s exactly what they became when the McGuinty government used Remembrance Day to announce the creation of a specialized yellow ribbon “Support Our Troops” Ontario licence plate that will be available for Ontario drivers to purchase for $77.75 starting in the New Year. Now, I certainly agree with any show of support for the men and women who serve in the Canadian military and especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our rights and freedoms. In fact, I was very pleased when my PC Caucus colleague Garfield Dunlop brought forward the idea of creating “Support Our Troops” licence plates in the Ontario Legislature six months ago. But what I can not support is a government cashing in on our troops exploiting the pride Ontario families have in the Canadian Armed Forces. But that is what this licence plate scheme has become. Officially, the licence plate program is supposed to help veterans. According to a government news release, “a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the licence plates will go the Canadian Forces Personnel Assistance Fund (CFPAF), which helps current and former members of the Canadian military and their immediate families.”

Earlier this month, Ontario’s Auditor General Ontario, Jim McCarter, released his report on the McGuinty Liberal’s billion dollar spending scandal at eHealth Ontario. The Auditor General’s work confirmed the lack of government oversight and appalling waste of taxpayer dollars the Ontario PC Caucus began to uncover earlier this year. Mr. McCarter found that more than $1 billion has been spent on Electronic Health Records-related activities to date but there is still nothing to show for it. Just as disturbing as this shocking waste of money, were the revelations of where taxpayer money was spent. Through Freedom of Information requests, the Ontario PC Caucus found eHealth executives had approved hundreds of millions of dollars in untendered contracts and sweetheart deals for Liberal friendly consultants. Those consultants, some of whom were making $2,700 per day, were allowed to bill Ontario taxpayers for personal expenses such as cups of tea and muffins. eHealth’s now former President and CEO once even billed consultants $25,000 to work on a single speech.

Remembrance Day is a time for us to come together as a nation and show our gratitude to the brave Canadian heroes who fought so hard and sacrificed so much so that future generations could live in freedom, security and peace. There are many ways to honour the men and women who served in the Canadian Armed Forces and who defended our values and way of life. Many communities in Niagara and Hamilton have found creative ways to salute local war veterans. One example is in Lincoln where the local community came together to dedicate a playground posthumously to Ralph Reid, a veteran of the Second World War and a former alderman for the Town of Lincoln. Ralph, a pilot in the Royal Canadian Airforce, flew 38 missions in a Lancaster bomber between 1943 and 1945. Ralph would go on to become an active member the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 612 Beamsville and would go to schools and talk to young students about Remembrance Day. The playground today serves as a touching tribute Ralph and the brave soldiers, sailors and airmen who served with him to protect our country during a very dark time.