NEWS:

LONDON — Today, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak announced that the government he leads will treat municipalities as partners to be trusted and give them the power to make more decisions locally.

In his address at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Annual Conference, Hudak outlined his party’s commitments, from changebook, to build stronger Ontario communities, including:

• Giving every municipality a share of provincial gas tax revenue and expanding the program to include roads and bridges as well as subways and buses. Under Dalton McGuinty, only 1-in-5 municipalities receive gas tax revenue, because he only gives it to those with a transit system.
• Fixing the arbitration system to ensure public sector wage agreements reflect municipalities’ and families’ ability to pay.
• Restoring local decision-making powers Dalton McGuinty stripped from municipalities to force industrial wind farms on unwilling host communities.

On October 6th, Ontario families will have a clear choice between the Dalton McGuinty Liberals – who will continue to raise taxes and take decision-making powers out of the hands of local government – or a Tim Hudak government that will restore local decision making powers, treat municipalities as partners, and ensure public sector wage agreements reflect their ability to pay.

QUOTES:

“While Dalton McGuinty denies most municipalities gas tax money, we will give every single city and town a fair share and let them spend it on their priorities, be it a road, bridge or public transit. We will ensure that no municipality receives less funding, but more importantly that no municipality gets left out or left behind.”
–Tim Hudak, Ontario PC Leader

“I believe in paying public servants what is fair, but I also believe in taxing Ontario families no more than what is fair. Ontario’s arbitration system is badly broken. It’s unsustainable. It needs to be fixed. And an Ontario PC Government will get the job done.”
–Tim Hudak, Ontario PC Leader

QUICK FACTS:

• Dalton McGuinty is passing value judgments on municipal infrastructure priorities by giving only 89 of Ontario’s 444 municipalities a share of the provincial gas tax. A Tim Hudak government will give every municipality access to gas tax revenue and allow them to spend it on their priorities, including roads, bridges, buses and subways.
• Dalton McGuinty’s Green Energy Act stripped municipalities from having a say in the location of massive, industrial wind farms being forced on their community. A Tim Hudak government will restore the local decision-making powers that were stripped by the Green Energy Act.