We’ve got a way to go to turn around our economy

Further signs of Ontario’s continued economic slide paint a bleak picture for the coming year.

• 150,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs have fled the Province since 2005
• Ontario’s unemployment rate exceeded the national average in 2007 - the first time in 30 years.
• Ontario’s Gross Domestic Product is expected to rank last in growth among Canadian provinces.

And this in the wake of the release of the Auditor’s report and the government’s Fall Economic Statement last December.

While the low lights of the Auditor’s report – including year-end spending binges, and over $1 billion in uncollected provincial sales tax – raised eyebrows, it was the lacklustre Fall Economic Statement that provided the final brush strokes to the corner in which we’ve been painted.

The McGuinty Government continues to tax and spend their way around Ontario while working families and seniors are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. Spending by the government has skyrocketed almost 8 per cent each year, or $24.6 billion since taking office. The Economic Statement announced another $3 billion in spending.

And the McGuinty government’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” approach is breaking the back of rural Ontario. Farmers are losing $65 per finished pig and $350 to $400 for fed cattle. Greenhouse, fruit and vegetable growers are feeling the heat as well….Tobacco farm families have suffered a market-meltdown. The Fall Economic Statement referenced $150 million to “strengthen competitiveness” plus funding for cattle, hogs and horticulture.

Farmers, entrepreneurs and manufacturers all say the same thing: their costs are too high and on that list are taxes of all kinds and a regulatory burden which manifests itself in  additional costs.

This government’s demonization of enterprise stands in the way of much needed tax relief. The sooner the Government of Ontario implements tax reductions, especially in light of significant surpluses, the healthier and more competitive our economy will be.

If reduction in taxation and regulation has been identified as something which will contribute to a stronger more competitive economy, when will we see a made in Ontario plan to address this, especially as surplus funds accumulate? Particularly when government in Ontario spends 30% more today than four years ago.

Challenges are impacting our farming, forestry, industrial and manufacturing base – the lifeline of our economy. And while those challenges are significant in and of themselves, there is one other, major complication that we now face – the currency.

A lower dollar helped us achieve a softer landing after the implementation of the free trade agreement but those days are over, probably for some period of time. As I listen to Ontario farmers and business people, I think their ingenuity and determination in adapting to a higher dollar has been magnificent, but they can’t keep doing it on their own.

While there is no single solution, the best thing we can do to help Ontario enterprise cope with a higher dollar is to create for them a competitive
environment which takes away as many other irritants or obstacles as possible.

Real change, real plans and real results will have a lot to do with our ability to fulfill our huge economic potential and be true to our shared commitment to maintaining and enhancing a civil society.

We’ve obviously got a long way to go yet.