Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, friends. J’aimerais consacrer aujourd’hui un peu de temps à vous parler des priorités de notre gouvernement pour les années à venir. Dans le contexte d’une économie mondiale qui suscite pour bien du monde de l’anxiété. De mon point de vue, il s’agit d’offrir le leadership qui atténue cette anxiété et qui fournit des moyens de continuer à progresser. I want to spend a bit of time today speaking with you about our government’s priorities for the years ahead. In the context of a global economy that has a lot of people feeling anxious at the moment. The way I see it, it’s the job of leadership to confront those anxieties and to provide a way forward. So, I want to begin by thanking you for your leadership. The businesses you run … The work that you do … The jobs you provide … Are vitally important to our economy … And to our families. And your hard work in strengthening Ontario is one of the reasons why — even in the middle of a howling global economic storm … Ontario is one of the safest havens, anywhere. Ontarians have every right to be proud of what we’ve done to grow stronger, together, these past eight years. Our schools are stronger. International authorities say we have the best schools in the English speaking world. Not only are test scores way up, so are high school graduation rates. Over the last 8 years, in addition to the usual complement … 72,000 more young people completed high school because of the extra efforts we are making to get them there. What’s more, we now have the highest rate of postsecondary education attainment among the 34 OECD countries. Our health care is stronger. We have Canada’s shortest surgical wait times. And, according to the OMA, 2.1 million more Ontarians now have a family doctor. Our infrastructure is stronger: We have built 400 new schools, … Made room for 200,000 more students in our colleges and universities … Built 18 new hospitals, expanded 100 others … And we built 5,500 kms of new roads … And invested $13 billion in public transit. Our tax system is more competitive and that, too, makes us stronger. We’ve reduced taxes for people and businesses and adopted a globally competitive “value added tax”, the HST. And, finally, our electricity system is getting stronger as we rebuild it and bring online clean energy that’s creating tens of thousands of new jobs ... And making smog days a thing of the past. So, by any objective measure, whether we look at education or health care … Infrastructure or electricity … Taxes or our workforce … Ontario is now stronger. All of these elements go into the balance sheet for Ontario. And even in the middle of this turbulence, Ontario is on a good footing. But don’t just take it from me. Just today, Roger Martin released his tenth annual report on Ontario’s competitiveness. He says: “In taking stock of the past decade, we have some significant accomplishments to celebrate. “The provincial government has helped turn around our flagging investment in postsecondary education. “It has moved our tax system for business investment from being one of the world’s worst to one that is better than most. “And it has worked closely with the federal government to expand international trade.” In other words, my friends … Looking at how far we’ve come over the past eight years … Looking around at other places in the world … And looking at what we have built, together … It’s fair to say that if we had the choice of any place to ride out the storm … We’d be hard pressed to find a better place than Ontario, Canada. And that’s thanks to the collective efforts of Ontarians. Together, we’ve made our province stronger. But, as they say, that was yesterday. Where do we go next in the face of ongoing economic challenges in the global economy? Well, let me tell you about our governments priorities going forward. Ce n’est un secret pour personne que notre principale priorité est de créer des emplois et de faire croître l’économie. Parce que nous ne pouvons avoir de soins de santé de qualité sans une économie forte. Nous ne pouvons avoir d’écoles fortes sans une économie forte.It’s no secret: Our number-one priority is to create jobs and grow the economy. Because you can’t have quality health care without a strong economy … You can’t have strong schools without a strong economy … You can’t have strong roads … community centres … environmental protection… Or any of the services that we rely on to improve the quality of our lives … Without a strong economy. And at the same time, those very services are necessary to help create that strong economy. When your people are healthy… When they are well-educated … When they are getting what they need to grow strong… That makes them competitive. And that makes for a strong economy. So, it’s a virtuous circle … One where the services we count on are funded by government. And now we’re living in times that call for greater restraint. Families have now begun to borrow less … Pay down debt … And be more careful than ever with their money. And so must government. These are serious times. And we need a serious plan. We presented that plan to Ontarians in the fall election campaign. It was the plan with the fewest commitments … And, by far, the least expensive commitments. Ontarians responded by returning a strong, steady, experienced, Liberal government to office. So we’re going to do our part by providing that government. We will focus our efforts on growing the economy, while protecting the gains Ontarians have made together during the past 8 years.The challenge facing all of us is real: With the global economy in perilous shape … It’s going to require discipline and some tough decisions on the part of government. And it’s going to take all of us working together … And working smarter. That means, in the context of a minority government – even in what I call a “major minority” government … When members from other parties bring good, constructive ideas forward, we’re going to use them. Yes, we will have our differences. That’s only natural. And that’s healthy in a democracy. But our greatest responsibility in the legislature is a shared responsibility: We need to work together to build a stronger economy, for the benefit of all Ontarians. So, my government will tackle the challenges facing Ontario … The Ontario Way. That’s by working, and building, together. Soon, we’ll be announcing the specifics of our plan. One week from today, the Lieutenant Governor will outline our plan in the “Speech from the Throne”. The next day, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan will provide additional detail about that plan when he delivers our “Fall Economic Statement”.As well, in the months ahead, we’ll be receiving the report from the Commission on the Reform of Public Services, chaired by economist, Don Drummond. That report will help inform our government’s choices as we shape our spring budget. As the details of our plan and our global situation unfold, we already know the general situation. We’re moving forward in a time of significant upheaval and uncertainty around the world. It’s hard to keep up with all the bad news coming out of Europe as the EU struggles to contain the contagion of a debt crisis. Growth in the U.S is painfully sluggish … With no strong plan for recovery in sight.The U.S. is our biggest trading partner.So we feel it.The effects of all this uncertainty reach all the way into Japan and China, and emerging economies in Asia, Africa and South America. And how it will all play out in Ontario is not exactly known. But we do know that too many of our people are still looking for work … That our families are concerned ... That the global uncertainty is going to take a long time to be resolved ... And that Ontario and Canada have entered into a period of slower growth. As Tiff Macklem, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, said recently: “Recoveries after financial crises feel more like convalescence.” Even when things stop getting worse, it still takes a while before the economy feels better. But I have no doubt Ontarians will get through this. In Ontario — and across Canada — we have faced deep economic challenges before, and we have come through. Each time we learned lessons, and came out a little stronger. Now, it’s our generation’s turn to move forward in new ways in the face of our challenge. As that great Ontarian, Alexander Graham Bell, once said: “Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing … “That we see too late the one that is open.” We’re going for the open door … in investment, in jobs, in ideas. We’ll speak more in the days to come about our plan to grow the economy. But I can tell you right now … We’ll continue to aggressively build a clean energy sector in Ontario. Last year, for the first time, the world invested more in renewable technologies than in oil and gas. We know the price of fossil fuels will keep going up … While the price of renewable technologies will keep coming down. We know where the world is going. And we choose to lead, not follow. At the same time, we will be realistic when it comes to the big picture. In a lingering period of slower growth, we can’t count on a stronger economy alone to see us through to the other side. We’re going to have to take other measures — including controlling government costs. Mr. Drummond’s preliminary advice is that we hold growth in spending to one percent per year. That’s something we’ll be consulting Ontarians and parliament about when the commission’s report is finalized. But here’s what I can tell you, now: As we take the path to a balanced budget, we will be guided by some important principles… Principles that will inform our choices along the way. Here are five of those guiding principles: 1. We will protect health care and education as the most important public services upon which Ontarians rely. There will be reforms in the way we deliver these programs … But we won’t compromise on quality. 2. We reject across-the-board reductions both because this would mean deep cuts to health care and education … And because only reforms to the way we deliver services will get us to a sustainable balanced budget. Cuts create pressure for catch-up funding. But smart reforms eliminate the need for that funding by introducing efficiencies. So we won’t make arbitrary cuts that will only come back to haunt Ontario families. Ontarians have seen that movie. We’re not making a sequel. 3. Any reforms we adopt must help us get better value for money through improved efficiencies and greater productivity. 4. We will not consider an increase in taxes or the privatization of public health care. I am confident that we can move in a responsible way to a balanced budget without increasing the tax burden for Ontarians … Or by making them pay out-of-pocket for their health care. 5. Our government will not pursue austerity measures that harm our economy. It doesn’t make sense to solve our fiscal challenge by making our economic challenge bigger.So, as we move forward to a balanced budget … We will look for solutions that help us achieve our long-term goal for Ontarians: We want a strong economy that creates good jobs and supports the services Ontarians need … To keep them safe and healthy … Educated and competitive. As part of that, we will be looking closely at the Drummond Commission Report. Just as we will look to the Opposition to offer their best ideas in a time of constraint. And we will also lead by example. Our last Budget committed us to $1.5B in additional savings. Next year’s Budget will build on that. For example, we will continue to reduce the size of the Ontario Public Service. We're on track to reduce it by 5% by next March. That will grow to 7% by 2014. Nous savons que les Ontariennes et Ontariens comptent sur notre gouvernement pour diriger notre province en ces temps difficiles qui sont ressentis dans le monde entier. Et j’aimerais vous dire … que ce défi m’intéresse au plus haut point. Il m’intéresse parce qu’il permettra à mon équipe de puiser dans ses années d’expérience. We know Ontarians are looking to their government to steer our province through the global economic storm. And I want to tell you … I’m excited by the challenge. I’m excited about drawing on the years of experience on our team. In fact, I have to think that’s a big reason Ontarians returned us to office. And that trust that people have placed in our experience is both inspiring and humbling. My team and I are eager to take this on … And to succeed for Ontarians. This is about more than strengthening our economy. It’s about improving the lives of Ontario families. The fact is, Ontarians don’t lie in bed at night thinking about nominal growth or debt-to-GDP ratios ... What keeps Ontarians up at night are much more personal worries. They ask: “Do I have enough to pay the bills?” “Is my job secure?” “Will I have enough to pay for my kid’s tuition?” “How can I help my elderly mom who needs extra care?” That’s what keeps Ontarians up at night. But what keeps them going is the determination they show, each and every day, to work hard … And to find success. Ontarians aren’t flashy. We are resilient, resourceful and relentless. We know how to work together in the face of a challenge …And we are committed to doing what it takes to secure a bright future for our children and our grandchildren.And so, just like Ontarians themselves, our government will be steady and determined in the face of our global economic challenge. Ultimately, it’s that quiet strength and determination that has made Ontario what it is today: The greatest province … In the best country in the world. Thank you.
