Sterling calls for McGuinty to adopt PC plan to create jobs

(Queen’s Park, Toronto) – The McGuinty Government promised in their March 26 budget to create 146,000 new jobs this year.  Last Friday, just seven months later, Statistics Canada revealed that not only has McGuinty failed to create jobs, but Ontario has in fact lost 32,000 jobs since that budget was introduced.

“Dalton McGuinty has taken record economic growth and job creation and turned it into record tax increases, deficits and unemployment,” said Carleton-Mississippi Mills MPP Norm Sterling.  “Now 32,000 Ontarians will now have to figure out how to pay McGuinty’s HST without a job.  At the same time, McGuinty has saddled every Ontario family with an additional $13,500 in provincial debt.”

While McGuinty lets Ontario fall further into have-not status, the Ontario PC Caucus has a Small Business Jobs Plan that would help entrepreneurs create long-term jobs right away.  This plan includes simple steps like implementing a one year payroll tax holiday on new hires and suspending the land-transfer tax for one year.  It also includes re-instating the Red Tape Commission to eliminate unnecessary regulations and repealing McGuinty’s job-killing Bill 119 which forces independent operators and sole proprietors into the WSIB system costing affected small businesses $11,000 a year.

Tim Hudak, Leader of the Official Opposition, is also continuing to fight against McGuinty’s plan to merge the PST and GST into a harmonized sales tax that will take $3 billion out of the pockets of consumers.  The HST will add 8% to the cost of a long list of things including home maintenance and renovations, haircuts, newspapers, fast food under $4, gym memberships, accounting and legal fees and even funeral services.

“McGuinty has obviously lost touch with real Ontarians, especially the 32,000 newly unemployed Ontarians who are trying to figure out how to pay the mortgage and buy Christmas presents for the kids,” said Sterling.  “Ontario needs to move in a new direction and Tim Hudak is offering a road map.”

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For more information, call Carleton-Mississippi Mills MPP Norm Sterling at: (613) 599-3000