Common Sense and Compassion Do Co-Exist

Bart J. Mindszenthy, Partner, Mindszenthy & Roberts Communications Counsel and Director, The Empire Club of Canada; The Reverend Stephen Drakeford, Rector, St. Matthews Anglican Church, Islington; Velma Morgan, Community Activist involved with the John Brooks Community Scholarship Foundation; Carol Yaworski, Executive Director, Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario; Dr. Frederic L.R. Jackman, CStJ, PhD, President, Invicta Investments Incorp. And Past President, The Empire Club of Canada; Isabel Bassett, Chair and CEO, TV Ontario; Gareth S. Seltzer, President and CEO, TWS Petroleum Limited, Managing Director, TWS Private Wealth Management and Past President, The Empire Club of Canada; Nancy Smith, CEO and Founder, NextMedia Company; Arnold Santos, President, Olympic Tool & Dye; and Sharon Stinson-Henry, Chief, Mnjikaning First Nation.

Introduction by Bill Laidlaw

Here is a man who really needs no introduction. It does not seem that a day goes by in the media when I do not hear about this man and the skills and attributes he would bring to the job as premier of Ontario.

I have memories of him as a newly elected MPP from Parry Sound with a very different haircut.

His history in the party has included a number of roles in Opposition and in various ministries in the Frank Miller and Mike Harris governments. Recent positions have included Government House Leader, Chief Government Whip and more recently as Minister of Finance.

Our speaker has been for all intents and purposes the right-hand man of Mike Harris.

Ernie is currently the Vice-Chair and Senior Advisor at Credit Suisse First Boston Canada, and Counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Ernie served as the Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance for Ontario from June 1995 to February 2001.

In his role as Minister of Finance he was responsible for the allocation of Ontario's billion-dollar budget and the development and implementation of tax issues. Ernie also oversaw the restructuring of Ontario's financial institutions including Ontario Hydro. He chaired the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation leading one of the largest privatisations in the country.

Ernie's community service is as equally impressive as his political career. He serves on numerous associations and advisory boards such as the Vince Carter Foundation "Embassy of Hope" which helps underprivileged and disadvantaged young people.

Ernie was an integral part of the establishment of the Justin Eves Foundation in memory of his son and he continues to act in an advisory capacity to the foundation. The foundation is a charitable organisation dedicated to providing financial support through scholarships for learning disabled youths working towards a postsecondary education.

A graduate of the University of Toronto and Osgoode Law School, Ernie was called to the bar in 1972 and he was made a Queen's Counsel in 1983.

It is my pleasure to introduce to you our guest speaker todayErnie Eves.

Ernie Eves

I was going through the tradition of signing the guestbook before lunch this afternoon and I noticed the previous guests this month have been Bob Rae, Elizabeth Witmer and Tony Clement. Someone should talk to Bob. He's not in this race.

A leadership race is a lot like the luge race in the winter Olympics; the objectives are to lie flat, go fast and try not to die. So far. So good.

I want to thank you for that kind introduction and warm welcome. It is always an honour to speak to the Empire Club.

You may recall that the first time I spoke here was right after our government's first budget. The date was May 10, 1996. I said then that I believe that our first budget will be remembered as the day we turned the corner in this province and sent a very important message about Ontario's new direction.

The first question I faced from a friend after I announced my intention to seek the Ontario PC leadership and leave my business activity behind was very straightforward: "When, exactly, did you start to feel a little unhinged? And is there no medication that can help?"

I am particularly proud to stand before you with the support of 32 committed members of the provincial Parliament--leaders in Ontario, who encouraged me to return to public life.

Sixteen of them are here with us and I would ask that you join me in recognising them today.

My decision to return to public life certainly required some soul searching. In all our lives there are a series of choices we must make, of which the single most important is how we spend the little time we are given. My decision to come back was determined by two essential considerations.

The first was Premier Harris's unexpected decision to retire, long before most thought he would. The second was my profound belief in the right mix of policies and leadership vital to the economic and social interests of Ontarians.

In the face of the challenges confronting Ontario, this is no time for complacency or smug ideological self-delusion, either within the Conservative party or the population of our province as a whole.

Successive generations of industrious and compassionate Ontarians under the strong leadership of premiers like Frost, Robarts, Davis and Harris have built a multi-faceted, high-technology, manufacturing and exporting powerhouse that generates incredible wealth.

A farming output second to none in Canada. A healthcare and educational framework among the very best in the world. A network of towns, cities and rural communities that are the envy of millions. A society of uncommon racial diversity, tolerance and understanding. Law abiding and peaceful communities. Progress.

That progress was at risk in 1995 after 10 years of successive Liberal and NDP governments.

We inherited an Ontario bloated with debt with billions added every year in new deficits; a province that was chasing economic growth away through high taxes and excessive regulation.

It is the opposite of what we have now. And the challenge we face as Ontarians is how to preserve the best of what we have on the one hand, while changing and improving what is necessary to ensure equality of opportunity through economic performance and social progress in the future.

In 1995, a huge dose of common sense was essential to address what we inherited from 10 years of Liberal and NDP taxation, spending and regulatory extremes. Hence the Common Sense Revolution--a platform I was proud to help draft, defend, and implement with my friend Mike Harris and many colleagues.

The Common Sense Revolution was a platform that, contrary to the opinion of some, was built on consultation. On the ideas of Ontarians. Built from the ground up and not from the top down.

Implementing that plan was not easy. But it was the right plan. I believed it in 1995 and I believe it today.

I believe it because I was there when we found $2 billion in savings in the first four weeks of taking power. Tough decisions had to be made and there were a lot of sleepless nights. But I stand here today in a different Ontario--one that Frost, Robarts, Davis and Harris can all be proud of.

Today the progress we have seen is at risk again.

If there were any doubts at all, one need not look any further than Dalton McGuinty's speech last Thursday. Buoyed by polls that always suggest Liberals ahead between elections, Mr. McGuinty proudly and publicly committed to raising taxes. It is amazing that as soon as there is even the remote possibility of Liberal electoral progress, the Liberals cannot resist the tax-and-spend solution; it seems almost genetic!

Our partisan competitors are clamouring to take us back to the days of tax-and-spend, while our economic competitors around the globe continue to strengthen their jurisdictions. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a recipe for economic disaster. I cannot and will not allow that to happen.

We must continue down the road we have built over the last six and a half years. It has been a difficult road. But the growth we have seen in Ontario--even in the face of an economic slowdown--is a testament to the success of that plan.

After 20 years of service to the people of this province and our party I can tell you quite simply the job of cutting taxes and increasing competitiveness is never done. Because we have come so far we cannot, and must not, turn back now.

We must establish priorities and focus on what is most important to the people of this province just as we did in 1995.

In 2002, we must recognise the need for meaningful change and re-engineering in health care so as to preserve universal access to the very best care available regardless of one's ability to pay; the need for strategic investment in post-secondary education to ensure our capacity to compete with the best and the brightest; and the ongoing duty to make Ontario the investment location of choice through strong infrastructure, fair and modest government and diminished tax burdens wherever possible.

The only way to do that is to be frank about the broad framework essential to the task.

We must give to Ontarians a government that understands the values that are most important to Ontarians. I promise you that if I am given the opportunity to be your premier our government will be founded in the belief that equality of opportunity is the basis for true economic and social progress.

Equality of opportunity is the simple notion that all Ontarians, however wealthy or disadvantaged, have the right to expect a fair shot at self-improvement, happiness, wealth creation and a chance to contribute to society as a whole.

Standing before you is a working-class kid who benefited from the chance to get a post-secondary education. That was an opportunity my parents never had.

Those on the left of the spectrum, Liberals and NDP alike, replace equality of opportunity with mandated equality of outcomes.

I believe that government should not be the first and only answer to every challenge. In homes, in church basements, in small businesses and on farms, and in our day-to-day lives, millions of events occur every day that have nothing to do with government.

We must understand where government can and should be involved and be prepared to get out of the way where it shouldn't. A competent government shows that competence by first knowing its place.

I believe that common sense and compassion can and do co-exist.

I have seen it here in Ontario--in my five provincial budgets that combined unprecedented tax cuts with record investment in Ontario's priorities helping those who need help in our society.

Economic and social performance are tied inexorably to one another. Separating the two, hoping you can generate wealth without fairness or force fairness without generating wealth, is a huge misunderstanding of how Ontario works when it is at its best.

Indeed equality of opportunity in a society that leaves no one behind is rooted in a strong economy. My record on tax cuts and economic growth is unrivalled.

The government I would lead will continue to cut taxes just as I did in five provincial budgets. It would follow the schedule outlined in my 2000 budget for decreases in income taxes and tax cuts to help companies create jobs. We would seek new and more ways to increase productivity. Productivity is the key to our future--not a low Canadian dollar.

I believe that Canadians have a fundamental birthright to accessible health care regardless of their ability to pay. If money alone were the solution, we would have solved the problem by now.

Money alone is not the solution. Neither is the status quo.

Leadership on health care in the twenty-first century means not being afraid to have an honest discussion, while protecting the universality of the single-tier system that is a hallmark of our province and our country.

We know that the private sector has an important contribution to make in a publicly funded system. We must foster innovation based on partnerships with the private sector. We must explore new approaches together.

Solutions in health care will require courage on the part of all governments to admit what has not worked and to reach out to find what will. I am prepared to lead.

This has not been and will not be easy, but it is essential.

I believe that creating a strong community for individuals, families and businesses to do what they do is fundamental to who we are as Ontarians and indeed Canadians.

Strong trading relationships with the Americans are vital to Ontario's economy. We are the largest trading partner that the U.S.A. has.

We cannot have that trading relationship unless we address border security as a nation and internal security as a province.

I believe we need policies that will at once facilitate the seamless movement of goods, services and people but will also recognise the needs of our neighbours and safeguard all citizens in the wake of the tragic events of just six months ago.

Ontario needs a place at the table as Major General Lewis Mackenzie told me last week.

We have to work with neighbouring jurisdictions and the federal government to ensure our borders are both secure from threat but open to trade.

Equality of opportunity through a strong economy, quality education, accessible health care, small and efficient government, safety and security of person and province are the values that have guided me in my 20 years in public life. And they are the values that would continue to guide me as your premier.

I am not the candidate for those who seek simple solutions to complex problems; nor do I appeal to those who would walk away from the Mike Harris legacy of courage and achievement. Some would vilify those who through no fault of their own are down on their luck. Some would choose the status quo in health care. Some would choose confrontation over consultation. I am not that candidate. I will not be that kind of premier.

In the end, each one of us in public life must look his fellow citizen in the eye and himself in the mirror and ask: "Why am I here? What do I want to achieve?"

Well my purpose is not an agenda of anger or victimisation. Nor is it one of abdication or ideological isolation. My purpose for progress and opportunity is a place where freedom, responsibility, free markets and social progress co-exist in a way that maximises the benefit, security and prospects of every Ontarian from all walks of life and from all economic groups.

It would be my hope that my cabinet colleagues feel encouraged to innovate and reach out and that we would have a true cabinet government where ministers are comfortable to discharge their statutory and leadership roles.

I want any government I lead to be a team and I want that team to include members of the legislature who will have more free votes, more private members' legislation and more scope to speak and fight for their constituents. Ontario does not progress by accident. Often, progress requires tough decisions.

Ontario will require more than just Conservatives to achieve progress today.

It will require all Ontarians to come together. And, above all, it requires leadership--not just from a premier and government, but from each and every one of us in our day-to-day lives.

There will always be different levels of achievement in our society, and unlike our socialist friends, I think that is a good thing. The kind of Ontario I want to help build should be one without ceilings to excellence, achievement or opportunity.

Part of what underlines the civility of Ontario is the way in which we treat each other, respect our individual freedoms and diversity and discharge our responsibilities as citizens and as neighbours. And, I believe a society can be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. The aged who are infirm, the homeless, those who are in some way disabled, those with learning disabilities and those who are born into severely disadvantaged circumstances are not people I am prepared to leave behind.

Just as strong economic performance is vital to ensuring the resources to help these fellow citizens, so too is a certain courage on the part of all levels of government to admit to what has not worked and reach out to find what will. That is a process I do not fear; it is one I will embrace with genuine enthusiasm.

All Ontarians should know that there is a basic floor, a basic level beneath which no Ontarian should be allowed to fall.

In the Ontario I ask your help to shape and strengthen, I believe we can achieve this mix of economic growth and social decency that reflects the best of who we are and what we care for.

In that task, and towards that end, I ask for your help and support on March 23.

Thank you very much.

The appreciation of the meeting was expressed by Gareth S. Seltzer, President and CEO, TWS Petroleum Limited, Managing Director, TWS Private Wealth Management and Past President, The Empire Club of Canada.