| MPP
Arnott Calls Ontario’s Budget Proposal Responsive to
Waterloo-Wellington
Ontario’s
budget proposal supports job creation, maintains sound
fiscal management, provides funding for priority services,
and responds to the ideas of Waterloo-Wellington residents,
says MPP Ted Arnott.
“I
was pleased with the overall direction taken in the
budget proposal. Finance Minister Janet Ecker has done
a good job of balancing key priorities and charting
a positive financial course for the year ahead,” Mr.
Arnott said.
“Along
with substantial investments in health care, the environment
and transportation, education is a clear priority in
this budget. According to documents from the Ministry
of Finance, the education budget will rise to $15.3
billion for the upcoming year. With stable multi-year
base funding, the Province is proposing to increase
the money for school boards over last year’s budget
by almost $2 billion by 2005-06,” he added.
Mr.
Arnott also noted a number of local references in the
budget document. Conestoga College was mentioned as
one of three new Institutes of Technology with applied
degree granting status. Mr. Arnott has worked in support
of this development.
Also
strongly applauded by Mr. Arnott was the commitment
to provide Ontarians with the cleanest, safest drinking
water in the world. Chair of Conservation Ontario and
of the Grand River Conservation Authority, Peter Krause,
was quoted in the budget speech document as saying:
“The
government’s actions today are an excellent step forward.
Source protection on a watershed basis is the first
critical barrier in a multi-barrier approach to the
safety of our water.”
As
part of the commitment to safe drinking water, the Minister
of Finance announced plans to invest $750 million for
water over three years. In July 2000, Mr. Arnott called
on the Government to significantly increase its funding
commitment to protect drinking water, and continues
to support municipalities as they apply for assistance
towards that end.
A
long time advocate of debt repayment, Mr. Arnott praised
the strong step forward in the budget proposal. “The
people in Waterloo-Wellington expect their government
to be paying down its debt in good years,” said Mr.
Arnott. In 1997 he introduced a resolution that called
for the Government to adopt a 25-year plan to pay down
the debt with five-year interim targets. It passed in
the House in October 1997 with support from all three
parties. The Government then made an election commitment
to pay down $2 billion some of Ontario’s debt. That
commitment was increased to $5 billion. As a lead item
of her speech, the Finance Minister announced that the
Government has just now paid down $5 billion of the
provincial debt.
Another
key item in the Minister’s speech was federal underfunding
for health care. The Government of Ontario maintains
that the federal government is not paying its appropriate
share of the rising health care costs. Mr. Arnott first
raised this issue in Caucus and then in the House with
a Private Member’s Resolution in December 1999. That
resolution was aimed at restoring the funds that the
federal government had cut, and called for an escalator
clause that would increase federal funding for health
and other services to ensure that it keeps pace with
increasing costs. At that time, he drew attention to
the fact the federal share for health care had dropped
to 11 cents on the dollar. His resolution was passed
in the Legislature in April 2000 with support from all
three parties.
The
budget document also highlighted the Healthy Babies,
Healthy Children program. Mr. Arnott brought forward
a resolution supporting this program that was passed
in Legislature on April 30, 1998. Shortly thereafter,
funding for that program increased five fold from $10
million to $50 million by the year 2000-2001. The funding
for Healthy Babies, Healthy Children was $70.5 million
as of 2001-2002.
The
speech also announced a major investment of $250 million
over five years to move forward with mental health reform
and a Premier’s Council on Mental Health to raise the
profile of the issue. Mr. Arnott received input on mental
health funding needs in Waterloo-Wellington and brought
it forward to the Minister of Finance.
To
help support the development of municipal transportation
and water infrastructure the Government committed $1
billion in start-up capital to the new Ontario Municipal
Economic Infrastructure Financing Authority. The Authority
is expected to provide low interest loans to municipalities
and issue tax-free bonds. Mr. Arnott had brought forward
to the Minister of Finance the concept of using the
proceeds of savings bonds to directly support improvements
to infrastructure in Ontario’s communities. “I am delighted
that the Minister has listened to this suggestion,”
said Mr. Arnott.
Because
of our prosperous and growing local economy, the local
business community has advised Mr. Arnott repeatedly
of the need to address the shortage of skilled workers.
The budget committed to investing $90 million in high
schools over four years to support apprenticeship training
and help address the shortage of skilled workers.
Mr.
Arnott welcomed the commitment to invest another $1
billion in highways this year. He has contacted all
municipalities in his riding and asked for their top
transportation priorities for the next five years and
beyond. The ideas he has received from all of the municipalities
have formed his Waterloo-Wellington Transportation Action
Plan, and with this plan he is advocating within the
Government for transportation improvements that are
most important to the communities he represents.
He
is also very supportive of the plan to provide $40 million
over five years to municipal fire services in small
and rural communities to assist them in the purchase
of new emergency firefighting equipment. Mr. Arnott
has been a long time supporter of volunteer fire fighters.
In 1994, while he was in opposition, the Legislature
passed into law his Bill that allowed volunteer fire
fighters to put a flashing light on their personal vehicles
when responding to an emergency. In 1998 he introduced
a Private Member’s Bill to address the need for proper
compensation, in the event of injury, for volunteer
firefighters. Soon afterwards, his Bill was adopted
as Government legislation, and was passed in to law.
In 2002, Mr. Arnott brought forward Bill 30, the Volunteer
Fire Fighters Employment Protection Act. This bill was
aimed at preserving the right of professional fire fighters
to continue the long-standing tradition of volunteering
as fire fighters where they live and on their own free
time.
Mr.
Arnott was pleased that the University of Waterloo is
being named a partner with four other universities and
the private sector as part of the new Centre for Excellence
for Electricity and Alternative Energy Technology. Ontario
is investing $20 million over five years for the Centre
to help it develop energy alternatives that are friendlier
for the environment and more efficient.
Mr.
Arnott attended the budget event, held at the Magna
training facility in Brampton on March 27. Mr. Arnott
anticipates that next year, the provincial budget speech
will be presented in the Ontario Legislature.
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