TORONTO – Ontario can have a future with more jobs and prosperity, but getting there requires us to understand the depths of the hole our province is in – and the strong but necessary steps needed to get us out, PC Leader Tim Hudak said tonight.

Hudak’s comments preview the launch of When the Money Runs Out – a multimedia presentation on how the problems facing Ontario’s budget and economy have reached a breaking point, and the PC plan to confront them:

• more than half a million people unemployed
• a deficit that is bigger than all other provinces’ deficits combined
• a debt that has doubled
• a government that spends at triple the rate of inflation
• the lowest wage growth in Canada
• a bloated public sector payroll that accounts for half of the entire government budget, and
• “have-not” status making us dependent on equalization payments from Ottawa – for the first time in our history

“We must shake the current government from its complacency, and recognize how a decade of deliberate decisions created a made-in-Ontario jobs and debt crisis,” Hudak said. “Once we understand the policy choices that put Ontario on the wrong track, we can see the urgent need for bold choices to put us on the right track.”

When the Money Runs Out highlights the steps a PC government would take to protect the things we care about – like health care and education – by dealing swiftly with Ontario’s overspending and debt, kick-starting private sector job creation and growing our economy.

“Not a single Liberal leadership candidate has taken responsibility for their role in creating Ontario’s jobs and debt crisis,” Hudak said. “We can’t afford their expensive approach, now that the money has run out.

“Yet I’m optimistic, because I have great faith in the people of this province. We’ve been in a hole before and we’ve always climbed out. We can do it again, if we have the courage to take urgent action – starting today.”

Livestreaming of When the Money Runs Out begins tonight at 6:30 p.m. at www.ontariopc.com/livestream