Like Nixon to China, Premier Dalton McGuinty believes he has the credibility to confront some politically challenging decisions.
Stepping up his warnings of imminent spending cuts, McGuinty on Tuesday reminded Ontarians he has built up years of goodwill with public servants, which should ease the pain by averting labour strife.
“The foundation of respect and collaboration and measureable progress that we have laid during the first eight years puts me in a good position,” the premier said, referring to the generous contract settlements since his Liberals took power in 2003.
“So when I go to my teachers and I go to my doctors and I go to my nurses and everybody else in the public sector and I say: ‘Listen folks, we need to do this’ . . . I’m hoping that they’ll receive that with an open mind.”
McGuinty’s comments to reporters, following a Canadian Club speech to 700 people at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, raised comparisons to former U.S. president Richard Nixon using his anti-communist credentials to open relations with Mao Zedong in 1972.
“How about McGuinty to Ontario?” the premier quipped.
On serious note, he pointedly did not rule out the possibility that class sizes for kindergarten to Grade 3 and medical wait times could increase once cost-cutting reforms are introduced in the March budget.
That’s significant because improvements to education and health care are among his administration’s most-touted achievements.
But eliminating a $16 billion deficit by 2017-18 is paramount.
“It’s not going away on its own. Borrowing money to help Ontarians through a terrible recession is one thing, but living beyond our means . . . (is) quite another thing. That would be wrong for our children and for us.”
To that end, McGuinty — emboldened by the work of Don Drummond, a former TD Bank chief economist — said belts will be tightened and service-delivery revamped.
“Because half the province’s budget is spent on wages it is simply not possible to reduce spending without addressing salary expenditures,” he said.
“We will not raise taxes. Instead, we will find ways, through reform, to deliver government services more efficiently.”
McGuinty said Health Minister Deb Matthews would begin outlining Monday “transformation” in a department consuming more than 40 per cent of spending and “overflowing with opportunities for reform.”
“Most taxpayer dollars should go into paying the people who deliver the services like our nurses, our doctors, our teachers, our water and meat inspectors,” said McGuinty.
“We need them and we need them to do a good job. That means they need to be well trained and fairly compensated — and they are.”
With Moodys Investors’ Service recently placing Ontario on credit watch, McGuinty stressed the need to act to keep “our borrowing costs down.”
Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) scoffed that “we’ll see about the goodwill in the broader public sector” if indeed spending is reduced.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said unions are aware of Ontario’s fiscal realities and “that perspective will be brought to the bargaining table from all sides.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Robert Benzie
Stepping up his warnings of imminent spending cuts, McGuinty on Tuesday reminded Ontarians he has built up years of goodwill with public servants, which should ease the pain by averting labour strife.
“The foundation of respect and collaboration and measureable progress that we have laid during the first eight years puts me in a good position,” the premier said, referring to the generous contract settlements since his Liberals took power in 2003.
“So when I go to my teachers and I go to my doctors and I go to my nurses and everybody else in the public sector and I say: ‘Listen folks, we need to do this’ . . . I’m hoping that they’ll receive that with an open mind.”
McGuinty’s comments to reporters, following a Canadian Club speech to 700 people at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, raised comparisons to former U.S. president Richard Nixon using his anti-communist credentials to open relations with Mao Zedong in 1972.
“How about McGuinty to Ontario?” the premier quipped.
On serious note, he pointedly did not rule out the possibility that class sizes for kindergarten to Grade 3 and medical wait times could increase once cost-cutting reforms are introduced in the March budget.
That’s significant because improvements to education and health care are among his administration’s most-touted achievements.
But eliminating a $16 billion deficit by 2017-18 is paramount.
“It’s not going away on its own. Borrowing money to help Ontarians through a terrible recession is one thing, but living beyond our means . . . (is) quite another thing. That would be wrong for our children and for us.”
To that end, McGuinty — emboldened by the work of Don Drummond, a former TD Bank chief economist — said belts will be tightened and service-delivery revamped.
“Because half the province’s budget is spent on wages it is simply not possible to reduce spending without addressing salary expenditures,” he said.
“We will not raise taxes. Instead, we will find ways, through reform, to deliver government services more efficiently.”
McGuinty said Health Minister Deb Matthews would begin outlining Monday “transformation” in a department consuming more than 40 per cent of spending and “overflowing with opportunities for reform.”
“Most taxpayer dollars should go into paying the people who deliver the services like our nurses, our doctors, our teachers, our water and meat inspectors,” said McGuinty.
“We need them and we need them to do a good job. That means they need to be well trained and fairly compensated — and they are.”
With Moodys Investors’ Service recently placing Ontario on credit watch, McGuinty stressed the need to act to keep “our borrowing costs down.”
Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) scoffed that “we’ll see about the goodwill in the broader public sector” if indeed spending is reduced.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said unions are aware of Ontario’s fiscal realities and “that perspective will be brought to the bargaining table from all sides.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Robert Benzie
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