QUEEN’S PARK: The first and most basic thing government needs to do to encourage private-sector job creation is balance its own books and pay down debt, PC Leader Tim Hudak said today.

Ontario businesses, entrepreneurs and potential investors know that when the government is deeply in debt, taxes go up and important infrastructure projects, like new transit routes, get cancelled.

“That’s why we made balancing the budget job one as outlined in our latest white paper Paths to Prosperity: An Agenda for Growth,” Hudak said.

This will require actually reducing spending from today’s levels. Premiers Mike Harris, Roy Romanow, Ralph Klein and Prime Minister Jean Chretien all understood this and actually reduced spending.  As a result, they balanced their budgets in two to three years – not nine.

“Anyone who tells you that government can stay the same size it is today, but operate for $13 billion less, is either naïve, or thinks you are,” Hudak added.

“A household that was spending more than it was taking in would cut spending – not wait around, keep on spending, and hope to win the lottery.  Government must apply that same common sense to its own budget. We can’t afford to keep running government on a credit card.

“Whether meeting with small business owners across the province or bank economists in New York, everyone agrees that the number one thing we can do for the economy is rein in spending and get our fiscal house in order, if we want jobs,” Hudak concluded.

To read An Agenda for Growth click here.