Opposition fights back after summer of discontent

For Immediate Release:
September 13, 2010

Queens Park – Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett joined Opposition Leader Tim Hudak in standing up for Ontario families during the first day back at the Ontario Legislature this morning.

After a summer of McGuinty tax hikes and scandals, Tim Hudak used the return of the Legislature to remind an increasingly out-of-touch Dalton McGuinty that the next election will be about protecting the pocketbooks of Ontario families from a government that is failing hard-working families.

“On July 1, the McGuinty Liberals brought in the HST tax grab that is making Ontario families pay more for just about everything – the same day, Dalton McGuinty tried to sneak in a secret eco tax on thousands of new products,” Barrett stated following question period. “Meanwhile, electricity bills and auto insurance costs are going up at a time when high tax policies are chasing away jobs – Ontarians simply can’t afford this McGuinty Government.”

A recent report found that Dalton McGuinty’s failed energy policies will cost Ontario ratepayers $7.7 billion over the next five years. As a result, the average family’s monthly hydro bills will increase by up to 43 percent by 2015 and add another $732 a year to a family’s energy bill.

While this morning’s raucous session saw Tim Hudak and Opposition members listing the long line of new ways government has found to tax and spend, McGuinty refused to answer for his record; instead, choosing to revert to accusations and decade-old political arguments.

“This summer, Dalton McGuinty reached into the pockets of hard-working Ontario families with the HST, his failed eco tax, and hikes in hydro and auto insurance,” Hudak noted. “Families are falling behind under the McGuinty Liberals.”

The kick off of question period also saw Opposition questions regarding uncontrolled health spending, G20 security, and lack of public consultation on the Far North Act.

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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at
(519) 428-0446 or (905)-765-8413, 1-800-903-8629