The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, August 22, 1995 -5 Plan to provide adequate service for less cost Tough medicine will speed recovery By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Brace YOURSELF: Ontario is in for a massive restructuring, and it could hurt, for a while. But it's necessary -- it's "tough medi- cine" -- to get the province's once-mighty economy back on track, and government leagues have assumed the reins of govern- ment with a clear mandate to implement what has been a clearly spelled-out agen- da. During the months leading up to this past spring's vote, Tory leader Mike Harris -- we call him Premier Harris now - - put forth his plan in the form of a docu- ment he dubbed the Common Sense Revolution, a manifesto that advocates cutting back on the government's costly performing at top efficiency for less cost, PAA JOHN O'TOOLE, MPP DURHAM EAST says John O'Toole, MPP for Durham East. "The tough medicine is the first 18 months" of the government's mandate," said Mr. O'Toole, the tory who ousted former MPP Gord Mills of the NDP in the June 8 election here. "The recovery period is the next 18 months." Mr. O'Toole said the cuts introduced by the government are the first step in a carefully-planned agenda of cost cutting and program analysis that is aimed at allowing the PC government to provide service to Ontarians for less, driving down tax requirements and creating an "atmosphere for investment" in Ontario. "That's really the theme of our govern- ment," said the MPP "We will provide ser- vice for less cost." Mr. O'Toole and his Conservative col- commitments to social programs and whittling away at an unwieldy bureauc- racy. And it promises tax cuts for Ontarians, who for too long have toiled at their jobs, only to see several levels of gov- ernment gobbling up their hard-earned bucks, say the Tories. "W E HAVE to get taxes down," said Mr. O'Toole during an interview recently at his new constituency office, on King St. East in Bowmanville. "If we can drive the expenditure side down, obviously you drive down your rev- enue needs." The result is a more competitive taxa- tion rate for the province. And that creates a business-friendly atmosphere here, said Mr. O'Toole. The former GM manager has watched in despair as Ontario's once-vibrant econ- omy has slid into doldrums, where it still remains. He admits, though, that we will never again see the boom days of the 80's, when Ontarians lived high on the hog and spent away their extra cash. The economic climate is "irrevocably changed", he claims. But the good times are not irretriev- able, Mr. O'Toole contended. He said that once the atmosphere for investment and expansion is created here, Ontario can reassume its place as the engine of Canada's economy. "We have to re-establish Ontario as the centre-piece of Canada." But first, expenditures and taxation have to be tackled. And the primary tar- get is expensive social programs -- like welfare -- that are a drain on the govern- ment, and add nothing to the revenue side of the ledger. To THAT END, the government has announced plans to substantially cut ben- efits to everyone but the elderly and the disabled -- more than 20 per cent as of October -- and is still investigating work- fare, which became a popular buzzword during the election. The concept of requiring able- bodied welfare recipients to their benefits has been panned by some labor analysts, but WO/I th your while to work." proved a lightning rod which drew voter support for the Tories. The whole notion behind the concept is to re-introduce Ontario's once-healthy work ethic, said Mr. O'Toole: You get what you eprm, and you contribute like everyone else. - "It should always be worth your while to work," he said. "No government owes anybody a life- time of subsidy; the only exceptions are seniors, and the disabled. "I've had people tell me they're better off on welfare. There's something wrong with the equation." To accomplish that, the Tories will get rid of the "disincentives" to work for wel- fare recipients, making it possible for them to hold down a part-time job while collecting benefits and not be penalized for it. The benefits would be used to sup- plement the part-time income, and you "It should perform some kind of work for a / ways b e have a two-fold benefit: A member of the workforce who is working, and contribut- ing to the tax base, while collecting less free money in the form of benefits. Mr. O'Toole admits the benefit cuts introduced by the Tories will pack a wal- lop for some people in Durham East, and across the province. But he insists they're necessary to head off a fiscal crisis that looms if Ontario continues to pay what he calls high-level benefits to an increasing number of people. "With each individual case, there's going to be some dislocation," he allowed. "But how long can we sustain the arti- ficially high subsidies (for welfare recipi- ents) when we go deeper into debt each year?" "How long can you spend more than you earn?" Bur MR. O'TOOLE warns people shouldn't conclude the government is expecting Ontarians to take all the bitter medicine. He said government too will share in the cost-cutting. He expects issues such as MPP remu- neration and pensions, government downsizing and ministry streamlining to be high on the agenda when the legisla- ture resume Sept. 26. We can also look forward to balanced-budget legisla- tion early in the Tories' man- date, he said. "We'll be sharing the bur- den," Mr. O'Toole vowed. He said that idealism runs high among caucus members, who represent a combination of Queen's Park veterans and provincial gov- ernment neophytes. "It's a fresh, challenging, non-tradi- tional Conservative caucus," he said. "We can't expect people to shoulder the burden without leading by example." "Sustaining is the key word," he added. "We need to establish a new level of sus- tainable government where government is growing faster than the private sector." That, he said, is the essence of the gov- ernment's direction: Steady, sustained restructuring that will eventually change the face and mindset of a province and people that have been beset by fiscal woes and mounting barriers to prosperity. "People will become familiar this isn't a quick-fix government," said Mr. O'Toole. "This isn't a quick-fix problem. "But there has to be hope." Senator will address "Tax grab by Metro," Pierce Rotary Club meeting Gun control legislation will likely be on the agenda when Port Perry's Rotary Club hosts a member of Canada's Senate. Progressive Conservative Senator Con Dininni, from the Metro Toronto area, will be guest speaker at Rotary's regular dinner meeting tomorrow night (Aug. 23) at Emiel's Restaurant. "One of the topics that will probably be discussed is the gun control legislation," said Rotary member Aubrey Oppers. | He said Rotary has been inviting some people from the community to attend the meeting and join the discussion on the controversial laws. which have touched off a vigorous debate in Scugog. The legislation was passed in the Commons this spring, with Durham MP Alex Shepherd among nine Liberal MPs who bucked party policy and voted against it. The gun bill is now in the hands of the Senate. From Page 1 "It's mind-boggling what's being suggested by (Metro Chairman Alan) Tonks and (North York Mayor Mel) Lastman." Durham Region chair Gary Herrema has called a special meeting of council Sept. 6 to discuss the GTA issue, and for- ward comments to the Golden commission which is currently gathering data for a report to the provincial government. Regional chairs have made Joint submissions to the com- mission, but their vision of the future of GTA municipalities differs greatly from that put forth by Metro politicians. They seek to retain regional autono- my with streamlining of some services, and create GTA-wide commissions to deal with issues such as public transit, roads, and water and sewer infras- tructure. Metro's plan would disman- tle the system of five separate GTA regional councils, and create an enormous region served by 27 councillors, rep- resenting wards of up to 100,000 residents. Local municipal governments would remain in place to handle local issues, according to the plan endorsed by Metro, and the new regional government would handle policing, welfare, and regional roads. Councillor Pearce agrees some re-working of regional government is due. And she predicted the future of the GTA will be the hot topic when municipal politicians gather for the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference this week. "There has to be a better coordination of services, and I think the public is saying there has to be less government," she said. "I've seen 80 many GTA sub- missions in the last month I've got a file three inches thick," said Councillor Pearce. "Everybody's got their own vision." |