“The premier’s surprise resignation not only suspends his personal agenda but leaves the province in limbo. The trouble goes beyond prorogation to the postponement of virtually all government business until further notice.”
-Martin Regg Cohn, Toronto Star, October 20, 2012

QUEEN’S PARK – The Ontario PC Caucus jointly signed a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty demanding that he immediately recall the Legislature and called on Liberal MPPs to break ranks with McGuinty by publicly endorsing this position, PC House Leader Jim Wilson said today.

The letter comes on the heels of two other letters sent from PC Leader Tim Hudak lambasting McGuinty for abusing his power and putting the fortunes of the Liberal Party ahead of the needs of hard-working Ontarians. To date, both of these letters have gone unanswered.

“Ontarians are livid at McGuinty and the Liberals for shutting down the House for partisan and self-serving purposes,” Wilson stated. “Ontarians want their elected officials back in the Legislature enacting laws to rein in McGuinty’s reckless overspending and kick-starting private-sector job creation for the 600,000 Ontarians who woke up without a job this morning.”

Wilson noted that McGuinty’s own Cabinet and Caucus members know how self-serving and just plain wrong the decision was to shutter the House while they pick a new Liberal leader. “Many are quietly talking about how irresponsible McGuinty’s decision was and I call on them to do the right thing by publicly demanding the Premier recall the House,” Wilson continued.

Ontario PC Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod added: “McGuinty has put his scandal-plagued and sputtering government on auto-pilot. His scandals will now go unaccounted for, his nine years of reckless overspending remains unchecked, and billions of dollars more will be added to Ontario’s job-deterring record debt load. We need action.”

By shutting down the work of the House, McGuinty killed nine government bills and 94 private members’ bills. Moreover, he cancelled the investigations into the Liberals’ Ornge Air Ambulance scandal and the growing $1-billion gas plant boondoggle.

“Right now, Liberal leadership candidates are more concerned about running for the top job instead of creating jobs,” MacLeod stated, calling on the Leadership candidates to sign a joint letter to the Premier demanding that he recall the Legislature.

“If they don’t do that, they’re just as guilty as Dalton McGuinty for putting their own and the Liberal Party fortunes ahead of Ontarians,” MacLeod concluded. “In contrast, Tim Hudak and the Ontario PCs remain focused on kick-starting the economy and encouraging job creation.”