TorontoWith an agenda for less government through increasing privatization, still more tax-cuts for the wealthy and corporations at a time when the economy is slowing down, the Ontario Tories are guaranteeing that the standard of living of Ontarians will plummet, says Sid Ryan the Ontario president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
Ultimately, it is the Tories who will be paying the piper, at the ballot box. Ontarians will hold them accountable for gutting social programs and running the public services they value into the ground, adds Ryan in reacting to todays Speech from the Throne.
By making tax cuts and accountability for other levels of government the focus for the coming months, the Tories are attempting to curry favour with die-hard right-wing supporters while deflecting the blame for underfunded public services to municipalities, school boards and other public institutions.
This agenda has nothing to do with ensuring the people of Ontario have the best social programs and services, and a lot to do with the ailing popularity of this government. But the lustre has worn off the Tories.
Ontarians are now seeing that the real cost of this governments short-sighted policies are decaying roads and infrastructure, our school system in turmoil, our universities in dire straits and our health care system crumbling. And they are not buying the Tory line that tax cuts are the remedy to fuel the economy, says Ryan, who is urging the government to invest in public services as a future investment in a solid economy.
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For more information please contact:
Sid Ryan, President CUPE Ontario
(416) 209-0066
Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communications
(416) 578-8774