BRAMPTON – Better days are ahead for Ontario, but only if we get our fiscal house in order and our economic fundamentals back in line, PC Leader Tim Hudak said today.

Hudak called for a frank discussion on Ontario’s economic troubles as he met with business and community leaders in Brampton’s South-Asian Canadian community during a For Jobs and Our Economy Town Hall meeting.

The province is home to over 600,000 South Asian-Canadians who have the skills and drive to succeed, but their potential is not being fully tapped because the fact is, Ontario is in a jam, Hudak said. “The money has run out. It’s time to talk to people like adults about our situation. We need policies that will attract international investors and more skilled immigrants and encourage economic growth – not slow it down.”

The Number One thing we can do to create jobs is to get our fiscal house in order, Hudak continued: “That will tell businesses and manufacturers that Ontario can afford the things they need to invest, expand and create jobs, like lower taxes and good infrastructure.”

Yet despite a looming $30 billion dollar deficit and nearly 600,000 unemployed, the government took a bad economy and made it worse with even more taxes on job-creating businesses.

“And this has only been compounded by recent political bickering between the Liberals and NDP over the 2012 budget,” Hudak added. “Both sides need to regain some perspective – and recognize that we are being watched by the credit rating agencies and companies that might choose to make Ontario home or retain their presence here. This hardly inspires confidence in our province.”

A warning sign on this front came two weeks ago with GM’s decision to move two production lines from Oshawa to Michigan and Tennessee, citing high energy costs, among other factors. “This demands that we bring the spiraling cost of electricity under control,” Hudak stressed.

“So we’ve released the first in a series of Paths to Prosperity discussion papers on affordable energy, with bold new ideas to keep energy costs under control.” The paper is available at www.ontariopc.com and joins other PC ideas for unleashing our province’s potential, including:

  • Controlling spending, reining in deficits and paying down debt
  • Creating 200,000 new skilled trades jobs by fixing the apprenticeship system, and
  • Changing the attitude of government toward a pro-growth and pro-jobs approach to encourage business investment – instead of tying it up with restrictions and red tape.

“That’s my plan. And today in Brampton, and across Ontario, I want to hear what the people who actually pay the bills and create the jobs think about it.”