Jonah Goldberg<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Premier McGuinty was re-elected in October, he
\ncommissioned a report into Ontario\u2019s fiscal situation to investigate what the
\nbest course of action would be to fix Ontario\u2019s financial problems, and thus the
\nDrummond Report was born. According to McGuinty, Ontario\u2019s budget simply needed
\na few tweaks to get back on track.<\/p>\n
The Drummond Report was a massive eye-opener for Ontario. Around
\nthe world, Canada is touted as an example of strong fiscal management. The federal
\ngovernment is on pace to balance its budget in three years. But Ontario is an
\nentirely different story. If we are to follow Premier McGuinty\u2019s fiscal path,
\nOntario will have a balanced budget in 2032. That\u2019s twenty more years of
\ndeficits! Today\u2019s grade twelve students will be thirty-eight by then.<\/p>\n
According to Drummond, to balance the budget, McGuinty will
\nhave to make cuts more severe than those made by Mike Harris. Harris was
\npremier from 1995-2002, and I\u2019m sure your teachers and parents would love to
\ncomplain about his total restructuring of our education system and massive
\nwelfare cuts. Turns out, the McGuinty Liberals have managed to get us into
\nworse financial shape than we were when Harris took office. The Drummond Report
\ncalls for an increase in class sizes, wage freezes for doctors, an end to
\nall-day kindergarten, higher alcohol prices, and a lot more. Harris\u2019s cuts look
\nfeeble in comparison.<\/p>\n
According to the provincial department of Finance, in the
\nlast nine years, provincial spending has increased about eighty percent, and our
\nprovincial debt has gone from $132 billion to $238 billion. Even
\nif sales tax was raised to 20%, it would still take five years to balance the
\nbudget. Ontario has elected Premier McGunity to office three times now. And
\nthanks to last October\u2019s vote, we could have four more years.<\/p>\n
McGuinty promised a thirty percent reduction in university
\ntuition, but with Ontario in this state, it doesn\u2019t look like we will be
\ngetting it. Doctors and other governmental employees will likely be paid
\nproportionately less by the time we enter the workforce. The deficit is not
\nonly tough on Ontario; it directly impacts our future financial stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jonah Goldberg When Premier McGuinty was re-elected in October, he commissioned a report into Ontario\u2019s fiscal situation to investigate what the best course of action would be to fix Ontario\u2019s financial problems, and thus the Drummond Report was born. … Continue reading