Since releasing his ‘jobs budget’ in March, which promised 146,000 new jobs this year, Mr. McGuinty has presided over the loss of 32,000 jobs in just seven months.  It has become increasingly apparent that the McGuinty Liberals have lost control of the provincial economic situation.  The deficit has risen to $24.7 billion, unemployment is through the roof, and the government is awash in spending scandals from eHealth and OLG to MPAC and WSIB.

Now, more than ever, Ontario needs a new direction.

Tim Hudak’s plan would help the private sector create long-term sustainable jobs right away.  It would encourage jobs now by repealing the job-killing Bill 119 which forces independent operators and sole proprietors into mandatory WSIB coverage for office workers who never set foot on a construction site.  It’s a move that will cost small businesses more than $11,000 in additional taxes each year.  Hudak’s plan would end that.

Under Hudak’s leadership, we would implement a one-year payroll tax holiday on new hires that would make it more affordable for businesses to hire additional staff.  He would also suspend the land-transfer tax for one year, making home ownership more affordable for young families, and thereby helping to create new construction jobs.

Tim Hudak is also calling for the reinstatement of the Red Tape Commission to eliminate unnecessary regulations that punish small businesses.  A moratorium on new regulations would positively impact private sector job creation until the Commission can get to work to reduce the overall regulatory burden.

Hudak’s Job’s Plan would also turn Ontario’s 3:1 journeyman-to-apprentice ration into a 1:1 ratio. This would help get more young people into the skilled trades, and make it more affordable for small businesses to hire additional workers.

A suspension of Dalton McGuinty’s decision to place 100% of the cost burden for the blue box program on small businesses is also a part of the Hudak plan.  This decision placed an unfair and unwarranted cost burden on businesses, costing us jobs. Instead, government would maintain the existing 50-50 split under Tim Hudak.

In addition, Hudak’s plan commits the PC Caucus to continue to use every tool available to stop Dalton McGuinty’s plan to merge the GST and PST into a super ‘Dalton Sales Tax’ that will take $3 billion out of the pockets of consumers and kill Ontario jobs.

These are sensible ideas that can be acted upon quickly.  They are ideas that will stimulate our economy, create jobs and put Ontario on the right track for the 21st century.  Dalton McGuinty’s plan is no longer working.

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