Each candidate began with an opening statement before answering questions asked by Ontarians. McGuinty praised the Liberal Green Energy and Green Economy Act, and I’ll give the Liberals credit for it. He made great points about green energy and how the Liberals have been investing in renewable energy sources and creating green jobs. He was correct in discussing how Ontario just scraped by in the summer of 2003, referring to the August blackout, as the previous PC government left Ontario in an energy consumption crisis. The Liberal green energy path is a difficult path to take, especially with our polluting American neighbours, but it is something that must be done. McGuinty is well aware it costs money and will take time to figure it all out, “There’s no escaping it” he said. But Ontario is a leading green energy provider in North America now and will help lead Canada into the green energy future. The coal fired plants will be shut down by 2014 and replaced with renewable and clean sources. Hate on it all you want, but if we don’t do this now it will just get worse and be more difficult in the future. The era of cheap and dirty energy is over.
Moving on, Andrea Horwath discussed the forestry industry up north which needs help. She has heard from Ontarians who have lost jobs due to the closing of mills. She said we cannot close mills which process our natural resources and that shipping our resources outside of Ontario for processing is killing jobs. This is why the NDP plans to give tax credits to companies that are hiring Ontarians and providing more training for their employees – IN Ontario. It’s simple, reward the companies investing in Ontario. One of her favourite lines was “there will be no blank cheques to companies who ship jobs elsewhere,” the NDP will do things differently.
Horwath made a great point when she said, “It’s easy to put that down on paper, but unless you’re prepared to show them where the money is, they won’t believe it.” She went on to say how the NDP have set the costs and numbers in their plans and where they will be make the savings. You can’t make promises with no real plan. It’s like offering all these amazing things to win votes, but when it comes time to make them happen, you can’t. This was a clear point directed at the PC Changebook, which has received criticism for not having the numbers. Remember how Rob Ford promised Torontonians he wouldn’t raise taxes but would decrease the deficit? Well that doesn’t happen without cutting services.
Next, I found that PC leader Tim Hudak’s main point was all about finding us jobs and making sure people get to do what they want to do. He tells the sad story of Ryan, a young man who just wants to be an electrician but there are no jobs for him. I am well aware of this dilemma as many of us fresh from post-secondary education are. However, I’m curious where Mr. Hudak will get me a job as an Environmental Policy major. I want to work in the environment sector (if not in government), and Rob Ford is killing many environment jobs in Toronto. Well I don’t think Hudak will help me get the job I want either as the PC have no commitments or real plans for protecting the environment. Also, where and how will he create these other jobs? Hudak calls out McGuinty for creating “phantom green jobs” but I have a feeling he’s promising us phantom jobs too.
Moving on, McGuinty discussed his home care for seniors plan so they can stay at home instead of at the hospital, and also receive house calls from doctors and nurses. The Liberals also have a tax credit so seniors can renovate their homes so they can remain there. This is a great idea, seniors need the help. But Horwath called him out for not doing this sooner after eight years in power.
Of course the e-health scandal would surface during the debate. Hudak brought it up claiming McGuinty lost us billions. He then went on to say he will reduce his Cabinet size and make them more “focussed.” He will also review Ontario government agencies and close down the ones we don’t need. Sounds familiar...cutting gravy perhaps?
Hudak ranted some more about all the taxes McGuinty has added, framing him as the “evil taxman.” This tactic is getting old though and he could have done more/done something different to really attack the Liberals. It seems Hudak’s main method is to say that he’s not McGuinty and the Liberals. McGuinty rebottled by saying that adopting the HST was not easy, but it was essential to grow a stronger Ontario economy. He also called Hudak out for planning to keep the HST on if the PC are elected, even though Hudak says he is against it. This makes perfect sense, why wouldn’t the PC make it a priority to take away the HST if they are so opposed to it?
Furthermore, Hudak called the time-of-use smart meters “tax machines.” He’s very passionate about seniors not having to do laundry at 3 am. Well, smart metres in essence are a good idea. They are advanced metres that identify consumption in more detail and communicate that information back to local utilities for monitoring and billing. They also determine the peak hours when there is high demand, which allows companies to set prices.
Then one of the more ridiculous lines came from McGuinty when he said smart metres help us practice better conservation. That’s like saying eating chocolate cake at different times during the day will help with your diet. Time-of-use metres allow people the choice to use energy at times when there is low demand so they receive a cheaper rate. This helps reduce the energy burden during peak hours, which helps us avoid blackouts. However, it does not necessarily mean people will conserve their energy. The only way to do that is by taxing energy consumption, which the HST on hydro and gas sort of is. That is one reason why David Suzuki is supporting the Liberals, because they’re the only party who will keep the HST on energy consumption (it’s sort of like a carbon tax). Hudak wants to get rid of the smart metres, and the HST on hydro and gas, but does not have an alternative plan for energy conservation. To me, that’s a #fail.
Horwath said she believes people want to do the right thing and conserve energy, but the smart metres did not help Ontarians conserve energy or reduce their bills. The NDP want to help people save money when they save energy and reduce their carbon footprints through tax credits and loans for retrofitting their houses. Give them the tools to go green and they will. Ontario is part of the Western Climate Initiative along with British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and seven American states, and the NDP would like to be part of a cap-and-trade program with them (for you economists out there, look up the Coase Theory). She said the NDP believe in the “carrot approach,” not the “stick approach” like McGuinty (where carrot means positive financial incentives such as tax breaks or awarding companies for good behaviour, and sticks meaning law and negative financial incentives such as taxing consumption).
Hudak continued to attack McGuinty’s green energy policies, but then went on to attack him about taxing businesses. What about the PC plans for energy and the environment? Way to change the topic Tim. Well, it’s because the PC have no plans for the environment.
The next part was a line I heard Hudak say in the beginning of the deabte, and one I’ve been upset about since I read it in the Changebook. Hudak stated he will treat “energy policy as economic policy,” not a “social program.” Ummm what? First, energy policy should not be treated as economic policy, it should be treated as environmental policy. This is probably the statement that angers me the most. Maybe it’s the Environmental Policy major in me, or just the good common sense, but you can’t take energy policy backwards to how it was under the PC government in the 1990s. Remember the 2003 blackout? Thank you Mike Harris. And think of the pollution that will be created by decreasing environmental regulations. Second, what is this about it being a social program? Was Hudak not complaining about the HST on hydro being too costly? Horwath called him and the PC out over the energy mess they made while in power in the 1990s by privatizing and deregulating energy (which causes the August 2003 blackout). Energy is something everyone needs, and the environment belongs to all of us. Maybe if these policies were more fair and equal and weren’t treated like economic policy, then the Liberals wouldn’t have had to do so much to fix the mess in the early 2000s.
However the Liberals are not saints either. The Liberal renewable energy plans are privately owned, such as the Samsung deal with Korea which is a private sector deal costing Ontario a good amount of money. Horwath said these deals should be made with Ontarians in the public’s interest. The NDP is committed to renewable energy, but in the public interest. There plan is to tie together environmental policy with energy policy and make it affordable and equal for everyone.
And of course, Hudak wants to end the “expensive energy experiment,” but what will he replace it with? Horwath then got in another quick jab about the 1990s PC government’s energy experiment which led to Ontario’s energy crisis in the early 2000s. Hudak promises us cheaper energy and to also close down the coal fired plants (which the Liberals and NDP say they will do as well), yet he also seems to be against green energy projects. Again, the PC fail to provide us with an alternative plan. And no, nuclear is not the answer. Nuclear plants cost billions and take years to build, plus there are many safety issues. Green renewable energy is the future and Ontario is on the right path.
Horwath made a good point about the NDP “bold idea” to take 50% of transit operating costs off of municipalities and freeze transit fares. This is a policy I support and I can’t believe the other parties do not have anything similar. The closest is the Liberal plan for two-way GO service, which is actually a plan I wish they instated while I was still commuting to school.
A funnier part of the debate was when both Hudak and Horwath called out McGuinty on cancelling a plan to build a power plant in Mississauga suddenly during the election campaign. Horwath joked “What’s changed is there’s an election on the horizon,” which makes sense. If the people in Mississauga are unhappy with the power plant, of course the Liberals will cancel it to win votes, regardless of the reasoning McGuinty gave. Hudak said “I think Ms. Horwath had a great line there” which was quite funny. This was the one part they both really ganged up on McGuinty.
Next, Horwath discussed freezing tuition fees, the only party to offer this plan. Ontario has the highest undergraduate student debt in Canada. Many students cannot attend full-time since they have to work to pay for tuition and living expenses. Students should not be burdened by debt and tuition should not be a financial barrier. McGuinty says he’ll take 30% (about $1000) off of tuition for families that make less than $160,000 annually, which is very good to hear. However, he won’t be doing anything to stop tuition fees from rising. Hudak is offering more OSAP assistance since middle class families (such as my own) do not qualify for much from OSAP, but are taxed so much that parents cannot afford to pay for their kids’ tuitions. Well that’s great Mr. Hudak, although I still have to pay it back and deal with rising tuition fees. It’s good in the sense that instead of taking out a student loan from the bank and dealing with the interest collection on it, I could just deal with OSAP instead (in an ideal world). But I’d prefer lower tuition fees all together, thanks.
By the end, Horwath made a wonderful comment. She said it shouldn’t be about hurdling accusations and insults at each other (referring to McGuinty and Hudak), but it should be about making Ontario a better place for everyone.
Finally, the healthcare issue. The negotiations to create the New Health Accord between the federal government and the provinces is coming up. McGuinty says we have the shortest wait times in the country and more families have doctors. He asked who do we want standing up for public healthcare at the meeting with Stephen Harper? Which makes me afraid when I think about it being Hudak. Horwath says Ontarians are watching healthcare deteriorate. It’s hard to tell whether are hospitals are doing better or worse.
I’ve heard stories from friends about how the healthcare system failed them, sent them away thinking their injuries were not as serious as they actually were. I wish they had received the same care and time I received when I broke my toe. I saw an emergency room doctor and got x-rayed in about two hours last October, it was not a bad experience at all. This is how everyone should be treated in our healthcare system.
Hudak wants to invest 6.1 billion into our healthcare system and says healthcare will be their number one priority. But where will this money come from? McGuinty says the PC have not had their numbers checked by an economist. Hmmm, again, big promises and no real plans. Hudak also wants to build 40,000 long term care beds, but then also says he wants to invest in home care.
Horwath says tons of money has been poured into healthcare already, but nothing has changed. Maybe it’s not the amount of money, but how we use it. Hudak again said McGuinty wasted money on e-health and paying consultants instead of putting it into actual healthcare. Well, electronic health records are a good idea, it just was not implemented properly and money was lost. I don’t really trust McGuinty with money, he’s more of an idea type of person. He has good ideas, but can’t seem to get them going without wasting money. The NDP plan as Horwath described to fix our healthcare system is to cap CEO salaries and get rid of the bureaucracy, and help seniors remain at home to save beds in hospitals. That actually sounds like a good plan.
The question Hudak keeps asking us is “Can we afford four more years of Dalton McGuinty?” Well, I don’t know. He has wasted money, but I like his progressive ideas. He’s really not as “evil” as some make him out to be. My question is, can we risk four years of Hudak? In my opinion it is obviously no. However we’re witnessing how the Harper Government is running things after winning a majority in May, but not enough has happened to give a fair judgement. Then again, the other part of the “Conservative hat-trick” is Rob Ford, and his popularity has plummeted thanks to his crazy ideas. So let’s hope Hudak is no Ford. I don’t think Ontario can afford a Conservative “hat-trick,” it is better to have a balance. From the past it appears Ontario tends to balance out the federal government by electing the opposition. We shall see if McGuinty can hang on to even a minority government.
In the end, we can choose the same old suits, red or blue, or we can choose orange, the real change.
+ Lorelie
