My five New Year's Revolutions
I call these ideas my five New Year's Revolutions, in tribute to the leadership of Mike Harris. Under his direction, the values and principles of the Common Sense Revolution were brought to bear on a province that had lost its way. In 1995, Ontario faced massive deficits and debt, skyrocketing taxes, ballooning welfare rolls and a crisis in confidence left behind by the Liberals and NDP.
In just a few short years Mr. Harris and his team turned Ontario around. Our budget is balanced. We are paying down the accumulated debt at a record pace, and more than 600,000 people have been freed from the welfare trap. Even in these challenging times, Ontarians look to the future with optimism.
Despite this success, some people now say Mr. Harris's values and principles are no longer relevant. But values and principles never outlive their usefulness -- especially those of self-reliance and faith in the individual citizen and taxpayer that formed the basis of his vision. So if we're to move forward, we can't become complacent now. And so, here are my five New Year's Revolutions:
1. MORE JOBS IN AN INCENTIVE ECONOMY
Tax cuts create jobs by creating economic incentives. We proved it by enabling Ontario taxpayers to keep more of their own hard-earned money to save, spend and invest as they choose. The evidence is the 838,000 new jobs created since 1995. I want to broaden this achievement by building an incentive economy. For example, I would phase out the income surtax to create incentives for bright professionals, job-creating entrepreneurs and other successful businesspeople to come to and stay in Ontario. We must also phase out capital taxes, which discourage investment in plants, technology and equipment -- the building blocks of productivity and job creation.
2. A SKILLS CULTURE
My commitment to create a skills culture begins in public schools, where children are introduced to the limitless opportunities that come from a good education. The Harris government's reforms -- including a new curriculum, standardized tests and clear report cards -- promote excellence and accountability. Now, the system must be given time and stability to enable these positive changes to take root; the school funding formula must also be revisited, having not worked as well as it could in some communities. We'll ensure stability by proposing long-term collective bargaining agreements. A skills culture would also feature new proposals to promote innovation and R&D, and to help more disadvantaged Ontarians get the skills they need to enjoy the dignity of work and the pride of independence.
3. CLEAN, SAFE, CARING COMMUNITIES
An incentive economy and a skills culture must be built on the twin foundations of more secure communities and stricter environmental safeguards. While Ontario has made great strides in community safety, crime rates are still too high. It's time for new investments to train the law enforcement officials who make communities safer. And despite environmental progress, people ask me why Ontario still has dirty, coal-burning power plants and raw sewage and chemicals being dumped into lakes and rivers. In addition to ending pollution from coal-fired generation, it needs to be established -- once and for all -- that pollution is a crime. A hard look needs to be taken at tax policies to ensure they are really promoting smart growth. Finally, it's time to forge a new partnership between the province and Ontario's cities -- one that turns them into magnets for jobs, investment, knowledge and culture.
4. ACCESSIBLE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL
As Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, I am particularly concerned about preserving universally accessible health care. Even with record levels of health funding from the Harris government, too many Ontarians feel powerless and worried that they no longer have timely access to health services -- particularly to non-emergency care. In the long term, we must work toward a pan-Canadian consensus on the future of our health system; in the short term, we can take intelligent, concrete steps to make the system more efficient and accessible. To achieve this goal, the necessary conditions must be created for a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week health care system. One way to do this is to improve health care infrastructure by enabling the involvement of the private sector in the financing, ownership and management of non-clinical aspects of hospitals and diagnostic clinics. Seniors' issues are a key priority for me. Demographic factors alone mean we have to look at the diseases of ageing, but there's also a deeper issue here. Seniors have paid taxes and contributed to society all their lives, and they deserve the care they need, when they need it.
5. OPEN, EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT
To me, the ideal government maintains open dialogue with citizens between elections, while constantly re-evaluating the businesses that government should -- and should not -- be in.
Participation in politics is declining across Canada. The best way to fight apathy and cynicism is to give citizens a greater say in the governance of their province, along with the confidence that their government is open, efficient and responsive. I have long championed direct democracy initiatives such as referenda on major issues. This would include tools like "e-democracy," or citizen's initiatives that will allow any Ontarian to seek a direct democratic judgment on an issue that is within provincial jurisdiction and does not violate the Constitution of Canada or human rights laws.
These are my five New Year's Revolutions for my party and my province. This is where I want us to go.