My Vision for Ontario

Head Table Guests

Anne Fotheringham, Private Art Dealer and Director, The Empire Club of Canada; Nathan Kalman-Lamb, OAC Student, North Toronto Collegiate Institute and Editor-in-Chief, "Graffiti"; Reverend Chris King, Rector, Little Trinity Anglican Church; Jan Dymond, Principal, Janus Strategy Group; Scott Witmer, Manager, Manulife Financial and Son of Elizabeth Witmer; William J. Saunderson, Chairman, Ontario Exports Incorporated; John C. Koopman, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles and 2nd Vice-President, The Empire Club of Canada; Diane Mavrinac-Ross, Ist Vice-President, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party; and Neil Selfe, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets.

I have had the good fortune of knowing our speaker for many years. My first experience was at a meeting to discuss Ontario business issues and the pharmaceutical industry.

My first observations were that she was generally interested in what I had to say and my issues even though they were not Ministry of Labour issues. She wanted to know about everything. She had a knack for making me feel comfortable. I developed an instant positive relationship with her and I believe she has a knack of doing that with a number of people. She is both firm and friendly.

Over the years I have sat with her at numerous dinners and worked with her on policy development. On every occasion it has been an experience where we have enjoyed each other's company and a great deal of information has been exchanged. She is a generally interesting person.

Our speaker brings a great deal of class to Ontario politics as well as a good sense of what is right for Ontarians. I remember her so well in one of my first addresses as President of the Ontario Chamber in Elmira, in her riding. She sat there through the entire speech looking as interested as can be and telling me afterwards what a good job I had done. I had quite a different view of the address but her comment certainly picked up my spirits.

Now a little bit of background on our speaker.

She was appointed to the position of Minister of the Environment in February 2001. Prior to that post she served as Minister of Health and before that as Minister of Labour. For four years before that she was the Labour critic for the progressive conservative Opposition and that is where I so fondly remember her.

During her tenure as Minister of Health, she sought to implement changes to the then current structure of Ontario's health-care system to ensure its ability to meet the needs of a changing and aging population.

In the spring of 1999 Elizabeth was re-appointed as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. She continued her task of forging a collaborative approach with all health stakeholders while moving forward with primary care reform, the modernisation of our hospitals and a $1.2-billion commitment to expand community services and build 20,000 new long-term care beds.

Her further accomplishments include the introduction of heart health and Alzheimer's, diabetes and stroke strategies in addition to moving the focus from illness to wellness, health promotion and disease prevention. She was also instrumental in the successful programme, Healthy babies, Healthy Children, which provides support to newborns, children and their families.

Elizabeth's political career spans over 20 years. In the early 80s she served as Trustee for the Waterloo Board of Education, including an unprecedented five years as Chairperson. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her service in the community.

Most recently she was presented with the Phillipe Pinel award for her contribution to mental health reform and the humane delivery of mental health services.

I also have had the good fortune of meeting her family and I know how proud they are of her.

I now have the pleasure of introducing to you--Elizabeth Witmer.

Elizabeth Witmer

Well thank you very much Bill for your very kind introduction and let me say ladies and gentlemen what a tremendous pleasure it is to be here today with you.

The Empire Club of Canada has a long and distinguished history. It has certainly been in the past, and will continue to be in the future, a forum for ideas, opinions and pronouncements on the lessons from the past, the issues of the day and of course our hopes for the future. And so I'm quite thrilled and pleased to be here today.

My plan is to share with you my vision for the future of this great province. And let me say at the outset what an honour and what a privilege it has been for me to be a leadership candidate for our party--the Progressive Conservative Party.

This race started (and I can remember when it started) on October 15--my birthday. I can remember trying to make a decision whether or not I would become a candidate for the leadership and talking of course to a lot of people about it. Shortly after I decided to take the plunge I can remember a former colleague of mine from my school board days giving me a bottle of wine and writing me a little note which said: "Elizabeth, enjoy the process and enjoy the people whom you are going to meet in this leadership campaign." I took his words to heart and I will tell you it has been an absolutely wonderful experience for me to travel throughout this great province from Thunder Bay to Timmins to Ottawa to Windsor and everything in between and meet the most fascinating people. It is an experience that I will never ever forget. I want to thank some of you in this room because certainly some of you are the people with whom I have had the opportunity to work.

Anyway let's move forward as we're getting very close now to the finish line. The finish line of course is March 23. We have 18 days and what I want to talk to you about is my vision of the future of this great province.

Today, eight years after the Common Sense Revolution Plan was unveiled, we face new challenges and new opportunities. A new vision and plan are desired to allow the people in Ontario to achieve their dreams and their goals. The future is something we can again get excited about. Today health care and education are issues of great importance to Ontarians. Protecting our environment, economic growth and building strong communities are just as important. This is a new agenda requiring a new approach and new leadership.

This will require a combination of new ideas and a new style of dealing with people on the frontlines and those affected by the decisions that we make. During this leadership campaign I have talked to thousands of people across the province about how we can continue to build a strong and competitive economy in Ontario. That is important if we are to have the financial resources that we need to provide certainty in health, excellence and stability in education, protection of our environment and strong and healthy communities.

As premier, my first step towards this goal of a strong and competitive economy will be to maintain a fiscally responsible provincial government by building on our achievements since 1995. I would begin by reducing and streamlining the number of government ministries. In 1995 the first Mike Harris cabinet had only 18 cabinet ministers. Today there are 24 ministers, a 30-per-cent increase. We must review the need for all the ministries and consider their consolidation. This would save money, increase efficiency and provide better services to taxpayers.

As premier I would also strengthen our economy by developing a comprehensive and integrated provincial transportation plan. We must develop public-private partnerships to invest in infrastructure, both roads and public transit, in order that we can move our goods, our services, and of course our people. This would reduce gridlock, protect our environment and improve the flow of traffic. Our highway network is the link by which our businesses in Ontario get their goods and services to market and if we keep in mind that Ontario exports more than $115 billion or about 90 per cent of all its exports to the United States each year, I think you can understand the need for a good transportation plan. However, our plan must not only increase roads. It must also improve transit. In 1996 gridlock in the GTA alone cost the provincial economy $2 billion a year in lost productivity and delays in getting our goods to market. Now we all know that today the number has grown as the heavy trucks and commuter traffic increases daily.

One of the first steps that must be taken to relieve gridlock and protect the environment is to create viable public-transit alternatives to getting in one car and riding to work. Developing a comprehensive and integrated provincial transportation plan of both roads and public transit is important and it will strengthen our performance. It will also help us to compete and win in the global economy.

I would also encourage the federal government to become partners in this plan and to develop a muchneeded national transportation plan as well. Sound transportation policy and streamlining government are key to economic growth but fiscal responsibility is the true hallmark of a Progressive Conservative. This is an absolute priority and it sets us apart from the tax-and-spend Liberals and NDPs.

As premier I would re-confirm my government's support for the Taxpayer Protection Act passed in 1999. In addition to re-confirming my support for balanced budgets, as premier I would include a debt-repayment plan in our next budget. Presently we are spending approximately $8.7 billion on interest payments to service the province's $110-billion debt. That's about the same amount of money that we give to our hospitals each year. And we are in that position because government had decided to reach for its credit card when it came time to provide a new service. It was easier to say yes to debt than it was to say no to whatever demands were being made on the government at that time. Paying down the debt will free up money and it will allow us flexibility to invest in frontline services such as health care, education or the building of strong communities. My plan would commit to significantly reducing the $110-billion net provincial debt over 25 years with five-year interim targets that will provide an opportunity to adapt to changing economic circumstances.

Now, I know that there are those who will say that it can't be done. I heard that said when I implemented a plan in 1995 when I was Minister of Labour to eliminate a $14-billion unfunded liability for the Workers Compensation Board. I'm pleased to tell you that that board today is on schedule to eliminate the unfunded liability by 2014 as I had planned. I will tackle our provincial debt with the same determination and together we will achieve the same results. By taking a breadth of steps to retire the debt we will keep pace with jurisdictions like Alberta where the Klein government expects to eliminate its debt in the year 2025. As premier, I would pursue a strategy of economic growth and prosperity with one goal in mind--making our children better off tomorrow than they are today.

Now if we are to make our children better off we must also ensure that they have adequate housing. As premier, I will pursue a vision of affordable rental and supportive housing that will reduce homelessness, build strong communities and protect victims of domestic violence. To achieve this goal I will make it more affordable for lowincome families, seniors and people with special needs to rent, I will encourage the construction of new rental units across Ontario, and I will create more supportive housing for the most vulnerable in our communities. Now in order to make it more affordable for people to rent and prevent homelessness from occurring, we must look at fulfilling the Common Sense Revolution's commitment to introduce a shelter allowance for low-income families, seniors and people with special needs. This programme would focus on the near homeless--those who are most at risk from the widening gap between what they earn and what they can afford. The shelter allowance would be geared to incomes and it would be targeted at those who devote more than 50 per cent of their annual income for rental housing. When fully implemented, the total amount devoted to the programme would not exceed $150 million. In the 1999 report of the mayor's homelessness action taskforce, headed by Dr. Anne Golden, a shelter allowance was singled out as the most effective tool to prevent homelessness for low-income families. The shelter allowance would be in addition to existing government support for those on social assistance and it would be targeted in stages to working with low-income families, seniors and people with special needs over time.

Now stopping homelessness from occurring is only the first step. We need to do more to increase the supply of affordable housing. According to a recent CHMC report, Ontario needs 16,000 new rental units each year just to keep pace with demand. However, changes to federal tax policies, the introduction of rent control legislation by the NDP, changes to the way that projects are financed, and rising development fees have all had a very adverse impact on new investment. And today although there are 16,000 new rental units required each year, less than 1,000 units a year are being built across Ontario. Obviously this is not enough and is of no benefit to cities where new apartment buildings are needed most--cities like Toronto with its 0.9-per-cent vacancy rate.

As premier I will work with the federal and the municipal governments as well as the private sector to create incentives and reduce barriers to the construction of new rental units. We need to keep pace with housing demands in this province. I am prepared to consider tax incentives for the private sector to build new rental units, such as an extension of the PST exemption to include all new multiresidential apartment units, elimination of the provincial capital tax on new apartment construction or putting newly constructed apartments on a level property-tax playing field.

Finally, as premier, I will also give priority for supportive housing to victims of domestic violence and their children. Within my first 90 days in office I will commit to a full review of supportive housing funding for victims of domestic violence and their children. By working together with developers, apartment owners and tenant groups to set the direction, provide the guidance and develop the programme, we can implement outcomes that will make our communities more liveable and rental housing more affordable.

Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, let us remember that it was more than just tax levels and balanced budgets that made Ontario a competitive jurisdiction and the best place to live. A strong and healthy community, certainty in our health care, excellence and stability in education and the protection of the environment lead us to a quality of life in Ontario, which is second to none anywhere in the world. These are priorities that people are talking to me about. These are the new challenges, and the new opportunities that we need to focus on if we are to continue to make this province the best jurisdiction in which to live, to do business and to raise our children. Thank you very much.

The appreciation of the meeting was expressed by John C. Koopman, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles and 2nd Vice-President, The Empire Club of Canada.