| LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO
Official
Record of Debate
(Hansard)
LIBERAL
CAMPAIGN PROMISES
November
24, 2003
Mr
Ted Arnott (Waterloo-Wellington): Mr Speaker, first
of all, I want to congratulate you on your election
to the chair.
Halloween
may be over, but the Liberal government's tricks are
still coming, as Ontarians are treated to a bagful of
broken promises. First of these was the blame-game phony
deficit. Key to the blame game is a little exercise
we're calling "hide the revenue," a trick
that would make any self-respecting accountant blush.
The latest evidence: $771 million in federal health
money that must be paid out of federal coffers by the
end of this fiscal year, yet these dollars are nowhere
to be found in the finance minister's expected revenues
this year. Why?
Perhaps
they're being rolled into next year to pay for subsidized
housing, an idea endorsed by the Minister of Public
Infrastructure Renewal a few years ago. In 1999, Mr
Caplan told the Guelph Mercury, and I quote: "The
federal government has given the province $895 million
more than they need for health care. That could be used
for housing. That's a big chunk of dough." Yes,
$771 million is a big chunk of dough. Ontarians deserve
to know where it is and where it's going.
What
about the proceeds of the Teranet sale? Even the Liberals
realized this would generate significant revenue. That's
why they talked about selling it during the election,
until they realized it already had been sold. Teranet
was sold for more than $300 million, yet in the finance
minister's books, nearly $200 million of that revenue
is missing. Where is this revenue totalling nearly $1
billion, or perhaps it would be more precise to ask,
where are these dollars going to be spent next year?
Ontarians have the right to know. The new government
must come clean.
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