July 17, 2008
New program reveals very little real development for private business.
(PERTH) - MPP Randy Hillier of Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington expressed his disappointment today at the Liberal government's latest program. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Jim Watson, and Liberal MPP Jean Marc Lalonde joined Perth Mayor John Fenik to re-announce the McGuinty government's Eastern Ontario Development Fund (EODF).
"I find it distressing that Minister Watson, who would not meet with the Smiths Falls and District Chamber of Commerce at Queen's Park to discuss business tax rates, has time to come out and repeat the same program announcement that the Premier has twice already announced," Hillier noted.
"The reality here is that not all businesses can apply for the EODF; farms, forestry and mining are all ineligible, as are retail businesses," remarked Mr. Hillier. "Agriculture and forestry are what built Eastern Ontario, yet these businesses are being told they need not apply."
"To make matters worse, the eligibility criteria are heavily slanted towards agencies and NGOs, who can get a significantly greater amount of government contribution for each dollar of their own investment without creating a single job. Private businesses are required to invest five times as much under stiffer conditions for a much smaller portion of the same program."
With the recent Auditor's Report on Agricorp, the 'Colle-gate' scandal and recent reports that the McGuinty bureaucracy grows while Ontario jobs fade, Hillier doesn't hold out much faith in this Liberal money management scheme. "This government has the opportunity to lower taxes for all businesses in Ontario, but instead has decided to set up another lottery where they can pick the winners," Hillier concluded.
Auditor General's Report- Failure's, Flip Flops, and a Crop of Incompetence
July 17, 2008
Hillier not surprised, Minister Dombrowsky managing the demise of rural Ontario
(Perth) - In light of the recent Auditor General's report regarding the mismanagement at Agricorp by the McGuinty Government', PC Rural Affairs critic Randy Hillier noted that more of the same - is a shame.
"In his report the Auditor notes that Agricorp spent as much on administration of farm support (CAIS) files as was put in farmer's hands, while achieving an astounding 57% error rate on these audited farm support applications. It is little wonder that in four full years of Liberal administration of Agricorp, farmer's satisfaction rate has fallen from 68% to a dismal 39%," Hillier charged.
"It is an intolerable and unacceptable situation that a Crown Agency spends $248 million in overhead to distribute $278 million and Minister Dombrowsky's solution is to increase the administration budget by 16.6%," Hillier added.
"Rural Ontario has faced significant economic challenges and the Minister's priority is to reduce funding to rural communities by 18.4% and spend 16.6% more on administration" Hillier remarked. "The people of rural Ontario deserve and expect honest politicians and sound managers not a deaf, dumb and empirical bureaucracy. They're looking for respect," he continued
"As rural Ontario is routinely attacked by the McGuinty regime, Minister Dombrowsky sits idle, and has transformed her promised 'lead' Ministry into a rump Ministry," Hillier charged. "The current Minister's priority is to add more bureaucracy, more red tape and manage the demise of a once prosperous rural Ontario while expanding her Nanny state," Hillier concluded.
Rideau Regional Centre Must Be a Priority
(Perth) The Town and people of Smiths Falls are facing huge economic difficulties and have suffered a number of devastating job losses recently, with the closure of the Hershey Plant, the recent closure announcement by Stanley Tools, and the closure of the Rideau Regional Centre (RRC) is fast approaching in 2009.
"The fate of the Rideau Regional Centre will be in the hands of the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) when it is declared surplus in 2009," remarked MPP Randy Hillier of Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. "We have seen, time and time again, public buildings, once mothballed, are left to languish and fall into disrepair while the government deals with other priorities'. In the case of Rideau Regional, this simply is not acceptable."
Mr. Hillier has written to George Smitherman, Minister for Energy and Infrastructure, recommending that the Minister declare the RRC a Ministerial priority and issue a Request for Proposal to the private sector and ensure that the property is put to beneficial use to the economic development and revitalization of the region.
Back in April, Hillier and Leeds-Grenville MPP Bob Runciman recommended that Rideau Regional be used as an Alternate Care Facility, but the idea was immediately quashed by the Liberals, despite the obvious need for such a facility in the region, and support for the proposal from the community.
"In his earlier role as Minister of Health and Long Term Care (MoHLTC), Minister Smitherman indicated that the government has no interest in using Rideau Regional as an Alternate Care Facility," Mr. Hillier remarked. "It is my view that the Rideau Regional must be made a priority for the ORC, and that if government has no use for the facility, it must be offered to the private sector for investment and redevelopment."
|
