For immediate release:
December 6, 2006  

Barrett disgusted by government waste
Says provincial government ‘flushing taxpayer money down the toilet’

Queen’s Park – MPP Toby Barrett rose today in the Ontario Legislature, to condemn the spending abuses revealed by the Auditor General’s report.

“Mr. McGuinty, you are the link between the hardworking taxpayers of Ontario, and these intolerable spending abuses tolerated by your government,” Barrett said in the Legislature. “This is not about letting somebody else take the fall. This is about leadership.”

He then went on to list some of the ways in which the McGuinty Government has diverted Children’s Aid resources away from vulnerable children, including:

Barrett then drew a line in the sand for the McGuinty government.

“Premier McGuinty – stop insulting the taxpayers of Ontario,” he said in his concluding remarks. “We want action. Stop flushing taxpayer money down the toilet.”

-30-

For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at: (416) 325-8404,
(519) 428-0446 or 1-800-903-8629

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

December 6, 2006

Mr. Toby Barrett (Haldimand–Norfolk–Brant): I’m disgusted by the McGuinty’s government’s gross mismanagement revealed in the Auditor General’s report. On behalf of John Tory and the PC caucus I have a message for Mr. McGuinty: You are the link between the hard-working taxpayer of Ontario and these intolerable spending abuses tolerated by your government.

Premier McGuinty’s Minister of Child and Youth Services stood in her place yesterday and defended the spending abuses. She said, “The interesting thing is that these issues really aren’t new.” She’s right.

The McGuinty government abused taxpayers’ money in 2006, 2005, 2004 and in 2003. A true leader steps up to the plate and takes responsibility. This is not about passing the buck, this is not about taking a powder, not about running around the corner and hiding. This is not about letting somebody else take the fall. This is about leadership. We are talking about taxpayers’ money that’s being spent on trips to Beijing; $59,000 SUVs and all-inclusive resorts in St. Martin, St. Lucia; $2,000 gym memberships; deficits, cost overruns, and no analysis by the McGuinty government.

Premier McGuinty: Stop insulting the taxpayers of Ontario. No more self-congratulatory spin, no more deflection. We want action. Please stop flushing taxpayers’ money down the toilet.