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a AMA aE advan Ww VG Ee PORT PERRY "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2000-7 Issues on the agenda with legislature i in session With the Legislature now back in session, there are several issues being discussed in the media. One of these matters is the war of words about health care going on between the federal and provincial govern- ments. This open debate tells me one thing, which is that both levels of government agree that there is a problem. I have suggested in Caucus meetings that the following agreements are needed: '0 Health care was originally a shared-cost program 0 We must have minimum standards across Canada a Every citizen must be treated equally; and 0 Transfer payments must be on a per capita basis. I have further recommended that the federal and provincial governments identify programs that they are solely responsible for funding. For example, the provinces should be completely funding hospitals while the federal government funds access to prescription drugs. As long as we continue to have complex funding partnerships, each side will blame the other when prob- lems arise. I suggest that we disentangle the responsi- bilities and make one level responsible for funding and delivering of different programs. These programs are: prescription drugs, home care, long-term care, hospitals and physicians' services. I believe that health care is part of our Canadian tradition and I do not want to see it deteriorate. Another serious question raised this week in Question Period had to do with the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC). There have been questions in the press, specifi- cally in the Globe & Mail's March 6 edition, asking for more openness when it comes to the sale of government assets. The properties now being managed by the ORC, which are surplus to the people of Ontario, are said to be valued at some $5 billion. Stories in the media have reported that following some sales, the property was resold, (or flipped), for huge profits not long after the original sale. 1 am satisfied that Minister Chris Hodgson has ordered an audit and is reviewing the process. I can only tell you that for the years since my 1995 election, this organization has not been easy to get information from. My belief that all public bodies must be account- able remains firm. : Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty wiia introduced the Parental Responsibility Act this week. Destruction and property damage intentionally caused by young offenders has often left the victim feeling helpless. This legislation will make it easier for victims of these crimes to get compensation. Parents will now be required to demonstrate that they have tried to guide and supervise their children, or they will be held accountable and liable for damages their children cause. Statistics Canada has released the employment fig- ures through March 2000. Ontario leads the way with a further drop in the unemployed to 5.6 per cent. Youth unemployment also dropped to the lowest rate in years at 11.9 per cent, but it is still not low enough. Ontario gained over 60 per cent of all new jobs in Canada. Since 1995, business in Ontario has created over 701,000 net - spend money they don't have. That policy will explain id new jobs, with 150,000 of those positions being created since the June 1999 election. As | monitor the many statistical reports presented to us on debt, deficits, homelessness, poverty, welfare and general trends, | try to put these figures into human terms. Ontario must work hard to keep our economy strong, otherwise we will lose investments resulting in a loss of people's jobs. Should this occur, our government would have to increase spending, borrow more money and put Ontario further into debt. The end result, con- tinuing this downward spiral would be higher taxes for everyone. Governments must remember that we must provide the environment for investment and growth before spending money on improving social programs. Without a strong economy, we would not have the money to address the many pressing social needs. It is the question of the chicken or the egg and of course, there are political parties that believe they can why Ontario has over $100 billion in accumulated debt and why the federal government also has a high debt load. Remember that deficits and debt are simply deferred taxes. | often hear from social activists express- ing concem for our children, however it was their spend- ing policies in previous governments that almost crippled Ontario with the $11 billion deficit and almost $100 billion debt that we were left in 1995. We owe it to our children not to burden them with higher taxes and debts. College and university students will be completing their school year and finishing exams over the next few weeks. For those students still looking for summer employment, please call my constituency office at 697- 1501 or 1-800-661-2433 or look on the web at www.youthjobs.gov.on.ca for more information on the Ontario government's summer jobs. A wild ride on the markets The bungy ride technology stocks are experi- LETTER Where's help from feds? encing in the market reflects the profound and complete transformation our economy experi- enced. - Canadians have to embrace this transformation or bear the consequences of missing an opportu- nity to increase societies wealth and well being. Thanks to the efforts of the federal government - and Canada's historic investment in telephone line transmission - Canada is now one of the most connected countries in the world. Strategically this places us in the position to leap frog over our competitors since the vastness of our country and distance to market, is no longer an impediment when travelling the infor- mation highway. Estimates say that, as a nation, if we captured only | per cent of e-commerce business we would add $3 billion to our Gross Domestic Product. Estimates also say by 2004, 80 per cent of Canadians will be connected to the information highway. In spite of the recent castigation by the CEOs of Canada's largest corporations, about govern- ment's lethargic approach in assisting them, it is in fact this group which threatens to drop the ball and lose the e-commerce opportunity lying before us. To illustrate American businesses, when sur- veyed, rank the importance of using information technology as number one, Canadian businesses rank it 12th. Of Canadian companies now doing businesses on the information highway 63 per cent of it is with American sites, not Canadian. Businesses, both large and small, have to wake up to what is going on in the world. Government can only do so much laying the groundwork so that the population is aware and participating. If Canadians want to waste this opportunity letting Americans win the battle then we will be where we were 20 years ago - a branch plant economy where our wealth flows south of the ya Straig. § J oN 2) Ta border : " The federal government is attempting to lead by example. We have Government On Line (GOL). And we have set a goal of being completely automated by 2004 allowing all government ser- vices to be accessed on line. I realize not all people will be comfortable with this, which is why government will continue to provide services by phone, mail and local offices. GOL also presents an opportunity to re-invent government. Having set up a number of citizens focus groups throughout the nation, the federal government wants to find out what information citizens want as opposed to what government would prefer to give you. This will allow citizens and their government to open new frontiers. When people phone a government office to find out about genetically modified food they may not only want to hear about what Health Canada has to say, but Agricultural Canada as well. And Treasury Board too, who directly run some of our laboratories. They may also be inter- ested in Intemational Trade, which is involved in international standards for labelling. The new information society is challenging old thinking while creating new opportunities. Perhaps few of us will be damaged by what's going on in the stock market with regard to tech- nology stocks but all Canadians can be affected by the underlying trends. Let's take the opportunity to master the opportunities underlying the new economy before we become servants of other countries who beat us to the punch. In his weekly "Straight Talk", April 7, Alex Shepherd made some very misleading obser- vations. It is extraordinary that he should accuse the provincial government of wasting $6 mil- lion by informing the people of Ontario who funds the health care system. Keep in mind that Mr. Shepherd is a member of a government that cannot account for over $1 billion in HRDC money. In fact, there are currently 20 RCMP investi- gations into how his govern- ment gave this money out, and how it was spent. The second misleading point made by Mr. Shepherd, is that the tax points transferred to the Province over the past 20 years are the same as cash. This is simply not true. Tax points only become cash when the Provincial government increases taxes to take advan- tage of tax points. It is well proven that increasing taxes is not the way to improve the standard of living. Thirdly, Mr. Shepherd insists that his government will not come forth with new money until the Province develops a plan for the renewal of the' health care system. My ques- tion is, where has Mr. Shepherd been for the past four years? In 1997, the Health Services Restructuring Commission made its initial recommenda- tion to create what would become in 1998, the Lakeridge Health Corporation. Lakeridge Health was created to bring all five Durham region hospitals under one management unit, ~in order to coordinate and improve the delivery of health care throughout Durham. At the same time this reorganiza- ~ tion was happening in Durham, the same was taking place across Ontario. In the past two and a half, years, we have seen the Provincial government lh, "over $100 million to the rede- velopment and expansion of health care in Durham Region. ! The Whitby hospital was closed, refurbished and re-.. opened in mid-1999. In: Oshawa, a new-$54 million expansion of critical care and emergency services is well under way. Also at Oshawa, the new $50 million Durham' Regional Cancer Centre is! under construction, and expect-' ing to accept new patients in. 2002. We have seen the provincial | government commit over $100! million in the past two years to | health care in Durham Region. | We have also seen the people | of Durham donate a total of | $24 million through the "Setting the Pace" campaign. ~The only player who has not made any commitment is the federal government. Where have Mr. Shepherd and his Durham Region MP colleagues? | Why are they not speaking out . for the concerns of everyone | who lives in Durham Region? lan MacNeil, Brooklin-