"Building a new Ontario for the 21st Century"
Governing for tomorrow's Ontario

Excerpts from an address by Hon. Dwight Duncan, Minister of Energy before the 2006 Ontario Liberal Party Annual General Meeting in Toronto, Sunday October 28, 2006.

Ladies and gentlemen, last night the Premier shared with you a speech about hope…about caring for others… about the importance of working hard for what you believe in…and not leaving anyone behind.

It was a speech about vision. In today’s Ontario, Liberals are working, building and dreaming together. As Liberals, we take pride in turning vision into action…goals into outcomes…hope into reality. Today, I want to talk about what we have done to set Ontario on the right path for the 21st century.

We have been given a great responsibility by the people of this province to govern on their behalf. And we have been given this great privilege because of the men and women in this room, and across Ontario, who share our vision for what is right, and have worked so hard to make it happen. As the Premier often says: “we stand on your shoulders.” Thank you for your hard work…thank you for your support.

To truly appreciate where we are today, you need to think back to the dark days before October 2003, and the eight long, painful Tory years in Ontario.

Remember Mike Harris? And Ernie Eves? John Tory is no different. John Tory would have you believe that he had nothing to do with the Harris-Eves chaos, as if he had gone on a Mediterranean cruise for eight years and missed it. Don’t be fooled: he was out there raising money and supporting them every step of the way.

He’s made some promises that sound awfully familiar.

• He’s going to cut $2.5 billion from health care to fund a tax cut for his wealthy friends;
• He’s going to restore the Tory private school tax credit at the expense of the kids in our public schools;
• He voted against the Greenbelt and The Clean Water Act, and wants to keep our coal plants open indefinitely;
• He has made common cause with the Lanark landowners.

We reject the Lanark landowners and their advocacy of violence, but we embrace Ontario’s farmers. Mr. Tory, we call on you to do the same!

He says he’ll balance the budget, cut your taxes, and not cut health care and education. He’s got more positions than the kama sutra. I think we’ve heard this all before. Same old Tories, same old stories. So the choice is clear: Dalton McGuinty or John Tory.

• Ontarians trust Dalton McGuinty to protect public health care;
• Ontarians think Dalton McGuinty is going to put your kids' education ahead of more and more tax cuts;
• Ontarians think Dalton McGuinty has been the greatest environmental Premier in the history of this province.

And lets not forget Howard Hampton and the NDP. He will say anything to get a vote. In fact, he’ll take different positions on the same issue in separate places at different times to get a vote.

• Take health care: the self-proclaimed defender of public health care voted against Ontario's Protection of Medicare Act;
• The man who says he wants to protect public education voted against our bill to remove the private school tax credit;
• On energy, he’s even worse. First, he voted against putting the price cap on electricity. Then, he voted against taking it off;
• On the environment, some New Democrats voted for the legislation that created Ontario's Greenbelt around the GTA, while others voted against it;
• But the NDP were unequivocal on the Clean Water Act. Each and every one of them voted against it, something they should be ashamed off.
• The only thing that’s green about Howard Hampton is his envy of Dalton McGuinty. He knows that the leader of progressive and positive change in Ontario is our Premier.
• And who is Howard Hampton’s biggest fan? John Tory! Every vote for the NDP helps elect a Tory government. Progressive people need to come together to prevent more of Harris; more of Eves; and yes, more of Harper.

We will never forget, and must remind our supporters, what the Tory regime inflicted on this province:

• The Tories attacked public health care;
• The Tories attacked public education;
• The Tories attacked teachers;
• The Tories attacked nurses and doctors, and they weakened our future.

We had to fight back then, and we have to fight back now! After eight years of Tory government, there were fewer teachers and larger classes; funding for school books was down; drop-out rates were rising; and test scores were down. Their answer was tax breaks for private schools. The Tories created a crisis, and our kids suffered.

Public health care – a hallmark of what it means to be Canadian was also under attack by the Tories.

• Wait times were up…and medical school enrollment was down;
• The Tory government laid off nurses, and hired consultants;
• The Tory government closed hospitals, and opened private clinics;
• The Tory government increased co-payments and decreased access. The system was under siege.

And what about the economy? In their world, tax cuts were the only answer to every problem.

Look at the choices they made; the things they believe in. They chose to protect those tax cuts while welfare rates were cut by 21 percent! They chose more and more tax cuts for those with the highest incomes, while fewer and fewer young people could afford college or university.

While they were busy protecting tax cuts they didn’t have time to raise the minimum wage…not once in eight years. Now, let me ask you:

• Did the Tory government of 1995-2003 have a strategy for research? NO.
• Did the Tory government of 1995-2003 have a plan to help our forest sector? NO.
• Did the Tory government of 1995-2003 have a plan for Ontario’s energy future? NO.
• Did the Tory government of 1995-2003 have a plan for the environment? NO.
• While claiming to be fiscally responsible – they in fact concealed and left a $5.6 billion deficit!

It takes a lot more than competitive tax rates to grow an economy. It takes vision, leadership, and investing in our people. No vision, and no hope…that was the core of the Tory party then, and its no different today.

The year 2003 was a watershed for Ontario…a time for rebuilding and renewal.

Rebuilding starts with a vision – that Ontario is a global economic leader that can take on the world and win.

• We know that investing in our people, our greatest asset, will make the difference;
• We’ve been guided by the best ideas – not the worst of ideology;
• We’re looking long-term instead of being short-sighted;
• We’re doing the right thing and making the tough decisions.

Our plan was always about the economy. We knew there would be challenges in 2003; we knew there would be challenges in the future too, but our plan is working and making a difference. All of us are working together and we are achieving results that are moving us forward. We are building progress instead of looking for scapegoats.

On public education, we are restoring the public’s trust in a system that brings us all together. Our investment in education is working:

• Class sizes are getting smaller, and the number of primary school teachers is rising;
• We’re investing in secondary schools and have hired 1600 more high school teachers;
• Funding per student is rising; investment in our schools is increasing; training for teachers is improved; and test scores are up;
• Teacher moral has improved and we have achieved labour stability in our schools;
• Perhaps the most important accomplishment: graduation rates are up. More people are choosing to stay in school and even go on to college and university.

We’re creating opportunities for our young people:

• We’re investing $6.2 billion in universities, colleges and apprenticeships;
• We’re doubling student aid;
• And grants are back for those who need it most.

Our commitment to public education is matched by our commitment to public health care:

• Wait times are down;
• We’ve hired 4,300 nurses, created 160 medical school spaces with almost a third at Ontario’s new northern medical school;
• Access to primary care is up with 150 family health teams serving 1.4 million Ontarians;
• Today, 91,000 more people have access to a doctor than when the Tories were in government and hacking at health care;
• Even the Fraser Institute now says that Ontario has the lowest hospital wait times in the country!

We’re creating more opportunities for new Canadians and have introduced legislation that will remove unfair barriers to internationally trained professionals.

What about the $5.6 billion Tory deficit? We’ve taken giant steps towards eliminating the deficit while investing in our people in the areas where it matters most.

Securing our future means investing in research, which is why we created a new Ministry of Research and Innovation that is led by the Premier.

Leadership is about taking bold steps…and getting results. It’s about meeting challenges head on. We know that there are times when our economy will grow rapidly, and that there will be times when it will grow more slowly.

Today, there are sectors facing challenges around the world: like the forest sector, the agriculture sector, the manufacturing and auto sector. That’s why we’re investing in our economy and our people – not only to address challenging times, but position our industries and people for the future that this century will bring.

That’s why we’re investing $500 million in our auto sector; $900 million in our agricultural sector; and $1 billion in our forest sector. Our auto strategy has leveraged over $7 billion in new investment making Ontario the automotive leader in North America. We are competing with the world, and showing that we can come out on top. In fact, since 2003, we have added over 250,000 net new jobs!

We know that there will be bumps in the road. There will always be new challenges on the horizon. People need to ask themselves, who do you trust:

• The party that left a mess in 2003?
• Or the party and Premier that has returned hope and opportunity to the province.

The answer is clear and unequivocal: only Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberals have a plan for future prosperity that working families can count on.

Our work is not yet done. We have more work to do, and we will need your help more than ever to ensure that our efforts are not lost. And that is the message that I want to leave you with today.

In 2003, you took our campaign directly to the people. You knocked on doors, talked to friends, relatives, strangers, colleagues. Working together, we made the difference. Now we need to do it again.

The opposition will lie about our record and distort our accomplishments. But stay the course. If I can quote from our lunch speaker, James Carville: “Don’t get mad, don’t get even. Get elected.”

If we want to continue making Ontario a better place, we must get re-elected next October. Let’s remember what we are fighting for…a better and more prosperous Ontario for each of us.

We will not rest:

• Until every child has the best opportunity to succeed;
• Until every person has access to the best opportunity to reach his or her potential;
• Until every Ontarian has access to the best medical care in the world through a publicly funded system;
• Until every Ontario family finds prosperity;
• Until Ontario is at its very best.

We are working together…and Ontarians are working together…to make this commitment a reality. And after three years, it is working.

Today, we’ve turned things around: the things we said should be up are up, and the things we said should be down are down!

• The number of primary school teachers is going up…and class sizes are going down;
• Graduation rates are going up…and drop-out rates are going down;
• The number of doctors are up… and wait times are down;
• More people are working and the deficit is lower;
• Our environment is cleaner and our streets are safer;
• And we are determined to create opportunity for all.

Today, we rededicate ourselves to ensuring everything that should be up stays up! And everything that should be down stays down. We have come along way in three years… But there is more work to do. It’s up to us to keep Ontario moving forward in the right direction. Thank you very much.