Fulfilling Our Dreams: Ontario's Path to Growth and Prosperity

Head Table Guests

Duncan N.R. Jackman, Managing Director, Fulcrum Investment Company and Director, The Empire Club of Canada; The Reverend Dr. John Niles, Victoria Park United Church and Director, The Empire Club of Canada; Devon Paul, Senior Student, Parkdale Collegiate Institute, Member, Parkdale Student Council and Member, TDSB SuperCouncil; Jeff Adams, Canadian Paralympic Athlete and Principal, Adamsmania Consulting; Jim Ginou, President, Art Printing Company and Fundraising Chair, Flaherty Campaign; Christine Elliott, Partner, Flaherty Dow Elliott Chadwick & McCarthy; John C. Koopman, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles and 2nd Vice-President, The Empire Club of Canada; Tim Hudek, MPP, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation for the Province of Ontario; Senator Condinino, Government of Canada; George L. Cooke, President and CEO, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company and Past President, The Empire Club of Canada; and Steven Chapleau, Vice-President, Enertec Canada Inc.

Introduction by Bill Laidlaw

It is my pleasure today to introduce The Honourable James Flaherty. The Honourable James Flaherty has served as the Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance for Ontario since February 2001. First elected in 1995 and then re-elected in 1999, he is proud to serve as Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Whitby-Ajax.

I still have fond memories of our first meeting that morning in Toronto on Yonge Street at, I believe, Consumer and Commercial Relations where you were the parliamentary assistant to Norm Sterling.

It was early and my two-hour commute that morning made me late for your meeting. You were very kind and understanding and we talked in general about politics in Ontario and why you ran and the challenges you faced. You impressed me even then with your abilities and your desire to make a difference in Ontario.

I continued to follow your career through the Ministry of Labour, followed by a short stint as Solicitor General and Minister Responsible for Correctional Services, then as Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Native Affairs, and lastly as provincial Treasurer.

That was an impressive climb for an individual so new to the political process.

As Minister of Finance, Minister Flaherty's responsibilities include governing Ontario's $64-billion provincial budget. He also oversees the development of our province's fiscal and economic policies and is responsible for the development of major tax statutes, the regulation of Ontario financial institutions and the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation.

He is a member of boards representing policy and communications, economic and resource policy, privatisation and he is the Vice-Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet.

His academic accomplishments are equally as impressive as his professional. He graduated from Princeton University cum laude and Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the bar in Ontario with honours in 1975. He practiced law for more than 20 years before venturing into the political field.

I also happen to know his lovely wife Christine and their triplet sons who keep them very busy when they are not attending to their business and professional lives.

We are truly fortunate to have him as our guest today.

Jim Flaherty

Thank you very much Bill.

And I thank the Empire Club for extending this invitation to share my thoughts with you today.

Today I plan to speak to you about why I am running for Premier of Ontario.

In particular, I want to talk to you about the Ontario economy, and what government can do to turn this province around so that all of our citizens can achieve their dreams.

I thought that Bill's introduction was very kind and flattering.

But if you'll permit me, I would like to add a few more personal details that might help you to better understand who I am. And why I want to lead this province. To begin at the beginning…

I was born in a log cabin, which I later helped my father build. And I used to walk ten miles to school through the snow, with no shoes, uphill in both directions.

Well, that wasn't exactly it…

But I was born in modest circumstances as the sixth of eight children to two working parents in Lachine, Quebec.

We didn't consider ourselves to be either rich or poor, but simply an average middle class family. My four brothers and I had to save money from our paper routes for spending money.

And I used mine to buy a $52.00 pair of tack skates - which was a lot, in those days.

But those skates are part of the reason I am speaking to you today.

Because it was at an invitational hockey tournament where I was spotted by a scout from Princeton and was then offered a scholarship.

Now a Princeton hockey scholarship doesn't work exactly like a football or basketball scholarship to a big southern university.

I didn't get to major in television and recreation studies, or get a Porsche as a signing bonus. The scholarships only worked if you maintained good grades, and worked part-time for the university.

I worked waiting on tables and in the student laundry.

When I came home to Canada to attend Osgoode Hall Law School, I took a part-time job driving a taxi to help pay my way.

I learned a lot at Princeton and Osgoode. But sometimes I think I learned more playing hockey, waiting tables, and driving a cab.

But with a degree posted on the wall, I entered the practice of law.

I was fortunate enough to enjoy a successful career.

I helped start a new firm along with some colleagues.

I wrote a text-book on insurance law.

And, most importantly, it was through the law that I met my wife, who is also a lawyer, Christine Elliott.

Christine and I were blessed, ten years ago with the birth of our triplet boys, John, Quinn and Galen.

John, Quinn, and Galen are the three biggest reasons that Christine and I left our law practice so that I could run for the legislature.

And they are the three biggest reasons why I am running for Premier of this province today.

I want our three sons - and every child in Ontario - to grow up in a place where they can fulfill their dreams.

Ontario should be a place that gives people choices and opportunity, rewards hard work, and encourages excellence.

That is how people's dreams come true.

A lot of people think like this in Ontario today, and Ontario is a place of great opportunity.

But, we all remember that it hasn't always been this way.

In 1995 hundreds of thousands of Ontarians had lost their dreams to the desperation of welfare.

Countless businesses were wiped out. Or simply left for greener pastures as our province became one of the highest taxed jurisdictions in North America, and our productivity fell behind.

The resulting misery for the unemployed left behind was palpable in the Ontario of 1995.

While our neighbours to the south were enjoying growth and prosperity, Ontario was wasting away with an economic illness that seemed like it might be terminal.

Mike Harris had a plan in 1995 to bring Ontario back. To take what was upside down and turn it right-side up.

Some people said it was too radical. We ourselves called it a revolution.

But the proof, as the expression goes, is in the pudding.

824,200 more jobs created.

602,000 people have moved from welfare to work.

Take-home pay up 20 percent.

I believe in the hard work we did.

I am proud of the hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and the families that have moved from welfare to the dignity of work. We have allowed more people to achieve their own dreams.

We did all of this while bringing fiscal sanity back to Ontario.

We went from deficits of more than $10 billion when we came to office in 1995 to balanced budgets beginning in the 1998-1999 fiscal year.

I am proud of this record too.

When Mike Harris was elected we knew that Ontario was over taxed. Taxes in Ontario were far higher than the jurisdictions we compete with.

Liberal and NDP governments were punishing hard work and initiative.

We said that taxes had to come down.

We promised tax cuts, and we delivered tax cuts - 192 times in six years.

I am proud of that.

But the truth is that the job isn't done, and the revolution is not over.

Our taxes weren't competitive with the U.S. when Bill Clinton was raising taxes, let alone after the recent Bush tax cut.

Our productivity has not caught up with the U.S.

The 824,000 jobs we've already created are cold comfort to a Ford worker in Oakville facing a layoff.

To my competitors in this race, who say the changes are over... that we've achieved enough... that it's time to slow down or move on to other things... I say, now is the worst time to give up.

Yes, we have come far, but there is still far to go.

When we came to office in 1995 we used to say that the problem wasn't that revenues were too low, but that spending was too high.

And we were right. The problem is, it hasn't changed. Since we took office in 1995 real spending has not decreased.

After six years of "Tory cuts", we're still talking about Bob Rae's wild, socialist spending.

For every dollar we saved, we seemed to find another dollar, or two or three, to spend.

Still it was a big change from the Liberals and the NDP.

We slowed the runaway spending growth of the Liberals and the NDP. That was enough to balance the budget, get the unions marching in the streets, and get the Toronto Star to print indignant editorials against the nasty Tories.

Okay, that last thing wasn't much of a change.

But let me make this crystal clear, because it's widely misunderstood and it's a matter of great public importance. We did cut tax rates, but tax revenues have continued to grow.

The growth in government revenues were so huge over the last six years that it allowed us to balance the budget while still spending more every year.

Now cutting taxes leads to higher revenues.

We gave people and businesses more incentive by taxing them less. They have responded by producing more. And our revenues have increased.

The government is now getting a slightly smaller share of a much bigger economic pie. Through these increased revenues, we have been able to spend more money in vital areas like health care and education; to help those most in need.

But we must admit that we are still spending too much.

I say "we", deliberately, because I was there, and I bear my share of the responsibility.

Year after year, we brought down budgets with no overall spending reductions.

We should have done more to reverse that. I should have done more.

If my party entrusts me with its leadership, you have my word that I will do more.

In the 1995 Common Sense Revolution, we promised to cut taxes, and we did. We were rewarded with another majority government.

But in 1995, we also promised to cut spending.

After six years, we have failed to reach that goal.

The revolution is not over, and if the members of my party put their trust in me as Premier, I intend to finish what we started.

Just yesterday I re-committed to balancing the books in Ontario.

I also went further and proposed that we enhance the Taxpayer Protection Act by legislating that 50% of future surpluses in Ontario must be used to pay down the debt. And 50% must be returned to the people it belongs to - the hard working taxpayers of Ontario.

This means that when more tax cuts and economic growth results in budget surpluses in the future, the surplus won't go to pay for more and bigger government programs. But back to you, the taxpayer.

Half of it will be returned immediately in the form of a tax rebate. And half of it will go to pay down debt.

This will mean lower taxes in the future for ourselves, our children and grandchildren.

Let me be clear. I am not anti-government.

I am proud to serve in elected office, and I believe that government has a legitimate role in our lives.

A healthy civil society depends on police, hospitals, and schools.

Government should be there to look after those who cannot look after themselves.

There are infrastructure projects too large to be undertaken by the private sector.

And we need regulations to protect the environment, health, and public safety.

The problem is, rather than focusing on performing these core roles of government well, governments have a tendency to expand their role into every aspect of society, including things better left to the private sector and the community.

To some bureaucrats and politicians, there isn?t a lemonade stand, church rummage sale, or street hockey game that shouldn?t be taxed, regulated, or subsidized, and sometimes all three.

But every time government gets involved in areas that it should leave to the private sector, to community groups, or to families and individuals, it turns somebody's dream into a bureaucratic nightmare.

Every dollar spent by government is a dollar less spent somewhere else in the economy where it can create more growth.

We have to start bringing down spending in real terms. And get government back on track doing the things that only governments can do. And doing them better. Not taking over things that others in society can do. And doing them worse.

We shouldn't just talk about better government, smarter government, or more efficient government. We should talk about less government.

Like our education system, government has to get back to basics.

We also need to make sure that when we spend taxpayers' dollars that we deliver results. I have not been shy about this during this leadership process, either.

While others have said that we should not make further changes in education, I have told you that I am appalled with the failure rate of 53% on the grade-three literacy test.

That's why I announced a program based on phonics to help us achieve a passing mark on literacy.

I have also said clearly that education should be an essential service, so that our children?s education cannot be held hostage by labour disputes.

Getting a good education - whether in excellent public schools, or in excellent independent schools, which provide choice and competition - is the key to allowing our children to fulfill their dreams.

I said before that I believe in choices, and I really mean that. That applies not only in our economy, or our education system, but in politics as well. Part of our job as Progressive Conservatives is to make sure that Ontarians have a political choice in the next election.

The people of Ontario can already choose two parties that believe in bigger government, and higher spending.

On March 23, Progressive Conservatives will decide whether Ontarians will have another choice or merely an echo of the Liberals and NDP.

I think the people of Ontario deserve a choice.

They deserve the choice to support a party that believes government is big enough already.

They deserve the choice to vote for somebody who will give them more freedom to fulfill their dreams.

I have had the opportunity to fulfill some of my dreams in life.

The dream of running my own business.

The dream of starting a family.

The dream of doing the best I could, whether it was in hockey, in law, or in public life.

Ontario should be a place where all of our people can turn their dreams into realities. Ontario should be a place that rewards working hard, taking risks, and achieving excellence.

But every time that government intrudes into an area that belongs in the yellow pages, the sphere of someone else's dream disappears.

Every dollar that government takes in taxes is a dollar less in the hands of ordinary people.

A dollar less for a family to buy a new Ontario-made minivan, a dollar less for a minimum wage employee to take a computer course to upgrade her skills, a dollar less for a small business to hire a new employee, a dollar less for a couple approaching retirement to buy a cottage by the lake.

We need to give people the freedom to realize their dreams.

The dreams that matter in this province are not those of politicians who dream of their names on some fancy plaque on a building or their picture in the paper handing out a cheque.

The dreams of politicians and bureaucrats have a way of crowding out the smaller, personal dreams of our citizens.

Ontario does not belong to any one political party, person or union.

It belongs to the people of Ontario.

Six years ago I could not have said that to our sons.

Today, we are half way there.

Ten years from now, I look forward to telling our children that we have grasped the challenges.

That we have stayed the course.

That we have fulfilled our collective vision of a Decade of Growth for Ontario. And that Ontario has the highest standard of living and the best quality of life in North America.

The Common Sense Revolution started allowing people to achieve their dreams again. We have come far, but we still have far to go.

My friends, I invite you to join me on the journey to finish what we have started.