Opposition reacts to Drummond report
Posted February 15, 2012 5:42 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – Ontario’s opposition parties have reacted to the hundreds of spending cuts recommended in the Drummond Report, released Wednesday, with both parties saying the report fails to address concerns about jobs.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath said the recommendations are “recklessly scrapping programs that people rely on, while at the same time, handing tax cuts to Ontario’s richest corporations, is simply wrongheaded.”
“The exercise is all about cuts to public services. It ignores the full picture in my opinion,” she added. “If that’s the stated goal – to make sure that we’re investing in things that strengthen our future, why would we be cutting things like all day learning and post-secondary education.”
Meanwhile, PC leader Tim Hudak has ordered Premier Dalton McGuinty to act on the recommendations rather than cherry pick.
“If he declines to act on any of Mr. Drummond’s recommendations to cut costs, he has an obligation to put something else on the table. Otherwise, we’ll never balance the books,” said Hudak, adding that this is only part of the issue. “If you take something off the table, you gotta put something back on. The situation is that serious.”
“What else I think we have to do beyond Drummond is focus on making Ontario the best place to find a job to start a business,” he said, adding that Ontario needs to “get private sector job creation moving too.”
In response to the comments, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said the provincial government will look seriously at the report and come up with a 2012 budget which works best.
“I believe we will be able to grow this economy and create jobs. I think all Ontarians have to embrace the challenge, and we have to do it being fair, reasonable and responsible,” he said, adding that the government does not plan on acting on every single recommendation. For example, he vowed to protect all-day kindergarten.
“I’m sure that there will be a lot of debate. Our plan will need to identify more specifically, how we will reduce the deficit at the same as we position our economy to grow stronger and to produce more jobs.”
But that answer wasn’t good enough for Hudak.
“Every day that we delay, every day that Dalton McGuinty dithers, is going to make the tough decisions more difficult,” he said.
