Liberals: Good management

In October of 2003, before the government was sworn in, Ontario's former Auditor General, Erik Peters, submitted his report showing that the final, sad, sorry Tory budget was not balanced, but was $5.5 billion in deficit. Today, Ontario has been deficit-free for two fiscal years, and is poised to enter a period of sustainable surpluses. Contrast eight years of Tory mean-spirited incompetence with four budgets of progress and sensible management.

• The Liberal government budget of 2004-05 restored sustainability to Ontario's health care system, and cut the Tory deficit nearly in half;
• The Liberal government budget of 2005-06 brought hope and the largest single investment in two generations to Ontario's previously-starved post-secondary institutions. The Tory deficit was cut by more than two-thirds;
• The Liberal government budget of 2006-07 invested in infrastructure and transportation, including the Mississauga Transitway, and the Ontario budget was in balance by the end of fiscal year 2005-06;
• The Liberal government budget for 2007-08 is projected for a small and growing surplus, and invested in Ontario's human and social services. It also fixed the hated GTA Pooling, known as the Toronto Tax in Mississauga and throughout the 905 Region that was imposed by the Harris regime in 1997.

This is the track record of sustainable, growth-oriented economic management that Ontario needs more of.

Tories: Give it all away

• In FY 2003-04, the last Tory government hid a $5.6 billion deficit, and just lied that their deficit even existed;
• The Harris-Eves Tories ran up nearly $40 billion in additional public debt;
• The Tories cut taxes before they balanced the budget, and their tax cuts were never sustainable;
• The Tories sold Highway 407 for a fraction of its actual value, rushing to give it away just to show a paper surplus before the 1999 election;
• For 2007, John Tory has promised to rip $2.6 billion per year out of health care. He won't say where he will get nearly $11.3 billion over the next four years;
• The Tories are the party of the infamous Magna Budget, delivered outside the Ontario Legislature, and slammed universally as the worst example of legislative incompetence in Ontario history!

NDP: Complete incompetence

• Within a year of taking office in 1990, the NDP was running annual $10 billion budget deficits;
• NDP policies chased businesses out of Ontario! During their one, sorry term in office, Ontario lost an average of 1,300 jobs per week. Ontario lost 100,000 manufacturing jobs under the NDP;
• Ontario's unemployment rate soared past ten percent while the NDP governed Ontario;
• The NDP is unrepentingly incompetent. They'd like to do it to you all over again.

Date posted or revised: April, 2007