News

Today at Queen’s Park, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC Caucus launched a new online poll where Ontario families can vote on which good or service the HST will hurt family budgets most.

Tomorrow marks the one-month countdown until Dalton McGuinty’s latest tax grabs takes effect. The HST will increase prices on gas, electricity, home heating fuel, airline tickets, haircuts and dozens of other goods and services Ontario families use every day.

To have your voice heard on the impact of the HST, visit www.daltonsalestax.com. The poll is also available on the Tim Hudak iPhone application.

Quotes

– Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

– Lisa MacLeod, MPP Nepean Carleton and PC Critic for Revenue and Government Accountability

Quick Facts

Some of the items set to skyrocket in price after the HST kicks in include:

• Hydro
• Home heating fuel
• Natural gas
• Gasoline
• Vitamins
• Internet service
• Financial advisory services
• Mutual fund fees
• Condo fees
• Retirement & nursing home costs
• Air plane, train and bus tickets
• Funerals and estate planning costs
• Home renovation & repairs
• Lawn maintenance
• Snow removal
• Golf green and driving range fees
• Bicycles and bicycle safety equipment
• Gym memberships
• Trips to the veterinarian
• Haircuts

The HST is the next tax in a long string of taxes introduced by Dalton McGuinty that include: $15 billion in health taxes, higher income taxes, business taxes, hydro taxes, iPod and TV taxes, car taxes, house taxes and tire taxes.

NEWS:

Today Tim Hudak joined hundreds of Ontario PC Party members in Niagara Falls to protest Dalton McGuinty’s latest tax hike – the $3 billion HST tax grab.

In just over a month, Dalton McGuinty’s HST will officially kick in and Ontario seniors and families will start paying more for gas, electricity, home heating fuel and dozens of other everyday goods and services that you rely on most.   Earlier this month in a cleansing moment of honesty, McGuinty himself was forced to admit that the tax burden on families will go up.

Since 2007 Dalton McGuinty has also presided over increases in auto insurance, electricity costs, university tuition and property taxes.  When combined with the HST, the price increases on this basket of goods and services alone add up to $2,700.

QUOTES

– Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

– Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

QUICK FACTS

• “I think that for families at the outset there will be an increase in taxation.”

– Dalton McGuinty on the HST (Canadian Press, May 4^th, 2010)

• Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC caucus have used every tool at their disposal to fight the HST.  Hudak has toured extensively throughout Ontario to expose the HST while, at Queens Park Ontario PC MPPs staged a two-day sit-in in the Legislature introduced 200,000 amendments to the HST in order to delay passage of the bill.

Some of the items set to skyrocket in price after the HST kicks in include:

• Hydro
• Home heating fuel
• Natural gas
• Gasoline
• Vitamins
• Internet service
• Financial advisory services
• Mutual fund fees
• Condo fees
• Retirement & nursing home costs
• Air plane, train and bus tickets
• Funerals and estate planning costs
• Home renovation & repairs
• Lawn maintenance
• Snow removal
• Golf green and driving range fees
• Bicycles and bicycle safety equipment
• Gym memberships
• Trips to the veterinarian
• Haircuts

News:

STONEY CREEK – In a speech to the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce today, Ontario PC Leader and MPP for Niagara West-Glanbrook, Tim Hudak, shared details of his ‘10 for 2010′ plan, which if implemented would provide much-needed help for communities like Stoney Creek to create local jobs and grow the economy.

The Ontario PC Caucus ‘10 for 2010′ plan presents ideas which are both practical and affordable, including targeted tax relief, red tape reduction for businesses and new controls on government spending.

In his speech, Hudak also provided an update on his efforts to save the Eramosa Karst Conservation Area ‘feeder lands’ from development. Earlier this month, Hudak introduced private member’s legislation co-sponsored by Hamilton East-Stoney Creek NDP MPP Paul Miller that calls for the feeder lands to be included in the protected conservation area.

Quotes:

– Ontario PC Party Leader Tim Hudak, MPP Niagara West-Glanbrook

– Ontario PC Party Leader Tim Hudak, MPP Niagara West-Glanbrook

Quick Facts:

• Under Dalton McGuinty, the Hamilton area alone lost 3,500 jobs in the first two months of 2010.
• In March, Siemens Canada announced it will add to those job losses when it moves its plant and 550 Hamilton jobs to North Carolina. This was followed by news that Lakeport, Hamilton’s last brewery, was closing down and putting 143 workers out of work; and Stoney Creek Dairy was shutting down operations after more than 80 years due to high energy prices at the cost of 27 more local jobs.
• To find out more about the Ontario PC Caucus’ 10 ideas to provide tax relief, cut red tape and control government spending, please visit www.10for2010.ca.

News:

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak today shared details of his upcoming Newcomers Employment Opportunities Act. The act includes practical and affordable measures to help new Canadians find employment and create jobs in Ontario.

Hudak’s bill would lower the investment threshold for any immigrant investor who is looking to open a business outside of the Greater Toronto Area. In addition, the bill would provide new tax incentives for employers who pay for English and French language training for new Canadian employees. Finally, Hudak’s bill would require every Ontario regulated profession to provide potential immigrants with affordable and comprehensive access to credentialing information.

Hudak, who also serves as Ontario PC Citizenship and Immigration critic released the details of his bill after meeting with prominent business leaders from several of Ontario’s multicultural communities at the Mississauga Seniors’ Centre.

Quotes:

– Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

– Roundtable Participant Gul Nawaz; Senior Partner, Nawaz, Taub & Wasserman Chartered Accountants

Quick Facts:

If passed, Tim Hudak’s Newcomers Employment Opportunities Act would do the following:

• Lowers Investment requirements from $3,000,000 to $1,000,000 for immigrant applicants applying for permanent residence status in the investor category if the immigrant investor plans to operate a business outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
• Provide a new tax credit to eligible employers who arrange for occupation specific English as a second language or French as a second language training for immigrant employees who have been in Canada for less than two years. The tax credit would be equal to 10% of the enrolled employees’ wages.
• Require regulated professions to make training materials and credentialing information available to prospective immigrants online while empowering the Fairness Commissioner to monitor reasonableness of Ontario professional credentialing processes compared to other jurisdictions.

NEWS:

A rally at Queen’s Park today of MMA supporters should remind Dalton McGuinty that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is one of the fastest growing sports in North America and he shouldn’t ignore the positive impact the sport could have on the Ontario economy.

But Dalton McGuinty has grown so out of touch, he has turned his back on the potential jobs and tourism benefits, to impose his own views on what types of sports we are permitted to watch. While Ontario fans flock to neighboring jurisdictions with their tourism dollars and pack sports pubs to watch matches, the Nanny Premier and his elite advisors are obsessed with protecting you from the menace of the plastic bag, saving the weeds on your lawn from pesticides and policing the kind of dog you own.

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak has stated that, as Premier, he would have sanctioned MMA events by now to bring tourism dollars to the province.

QUOTES:

–Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

–Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

QUICK FACTS:

• Five other provinces and more than 40 states have sanctioned Mixed Martial Arts.

• According to a statement by the UFC, 42 percent of the spectators who attended the Montreal event (UFC 97) in April 2009 came from Ontario with an estimated $5 million of immediate economic impact to the city of Montreal.

• On February 18, 2010, Dalton McGuinty told reporters that the jobs and tourism spinoffs associated with bringing MMA events to Ontario “is just not a priority for us”.

News:

QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak spoke at a rally on the south lawn of Queen’s Park today in front of a gathering of close to 200 people who came to protest the costly impact of Dalton McGuinty’s $3 billion HST tax grab on fitness and recreation for Ontario families – such as the cost of gym memberships, vitamins and minor league sports registration fees.

When the HST comes into effect on July 1, it will add to the of cost of a whole range of goods and services Ontario families and seniors use every day, such as gasoline, hydro and home heating oil.

The Ontario PC Caucus was to introduce a motion today that would have allowed MPPs from all parties to freely vote on delaying the implementation of the HST until after the next provincial election. After learning about the PC motion, Dalton McGuinty betrayed an all-party agreement that in order to kill the motion before it could be debated and voted on in public.

Quotes:

– Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

– Lisa MacLeod, MPP Nepean-Carleton, Ontario PC Critic for Revenue and Government Affairs

Quick Facts:

• The HST will add $57.60 in new taxes annually on a gym membership of $60 per month.
• The National Citizens Coalition estimates the HST will cost the average taxpayer an additional $800 to $1,000 or more annually.
• The Ontario PC Caucus proposed the following motion that Dalton McGuinty broke his promise to strike down: “That, in light of Premier McGuinty telling Ontario families the HST will be revenue-neutral when he knew all along “there will be an increase in taxation” as a result of it; the Legislative Assembly of Ontario calls upon the McGuinty government to delay implementation of the HST until a date following the next provincial general election.”

News:

Today Working Families frontman Patrick Dillon was called to testify before the Standing Committee on Government Agencies about his involvement in the last two Ontario Election Campaigns. It has been revealed that Working Families includes a coalition of high-priced advertising and polling firms that moonlight as pollsters and ad-men for the Ontario Liberal Party.

Working Families advertising firms Arrow Communications and Policomm are both owned by political operative Marcel Wieder. In addition to his work producing attack ads for Working Families, Wieder’s businesses have received $476,000 in contracts from the Ontario Liberal Party, $1,400,000 in contracts from the Ontario Liberal Caucus and $152,000 in taxpayer-funded contracts from the McGuinty Government.

Working Families polling firm Pollara was formerly run by Dalton McGuinty’s former Chief of Staff and current Liberal Campaign Director Don Guy. In addition to their work polling in advance of the Working Families attack ad campaigns, Pollara has also received $660,000 in contracts from the Ontario Liberal Party, $1,607,000 in contracts from the Ontario Liberal Caucus and $1,870,000 in taxpayer-funded contracts from the McGuinty Government.

Quotes:

– Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

Quick Facts:

• Since 2003, the Working Families ad man Marcel Weider has collected $2,028,000 from the Ontario Liberal Party, the Ontario Liberal Caucus and the Government of Ontario.
• Since 2003, the Working Families polling firm, Pollara, has collected $4,137,000 from the Ontario Liberal Party, the Ontario Liberal Caucus and the Government of Ontario.
• Marcel Wieder and Pollara did work simultaneously for the Ontario Liberal Party and Working Families Coalition in the 2003 and 2007 election campaigns.

News:

Tonight Tim Hudak addressed the 2010 Ontario PC Leader’s Dinner. In his remarks, Hudak shared details about how an Ontario PC Government will put conservative principles to work to help create jobs, grow Ontario’s economy and help Ontario families struggling with a rising cost of living.

Hudak contrasted Dalton McGuinty’s increasingly out-of-touch, high-tax, meddling administration to what Ontario families could expect from a PC Government. An Ontario PC Government will focus on the basics – lower taxes, less waste, reduced regulatory burden and level playing field for families and businesses.

In a sign of growing momentum, the 2010 Leader’s Dinner had the highest ticket sales, turnout, and fundraising results since the 2007 election.

Quotes:

– Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

– Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

Quick Facts:

• The 2010 Toronto Leader’s Dinner builds on Tim Hudak’s efforts to reach out to more Ontario voters. The speech will be liveblogged with real time updates on both Twitter and Facebook. The Speech will also be made available on Tim Hudak’s iPhone application – the first of its kind in Canada.
• Ontario’s GDP grew by 10 percent over the last seven years, while Dalton McGuinty increased government spending by a staggering 70 percent.
• It took 23 Ontario premiers 136 years to accumulate our first $148 billion in debt. Dalton McGuinty is on course to double that number by 2012-2013.

News:

Today Dalton McGuinty broke yet another promise when he betrayed an all-party agreement in order to kill an Ontario PC motion that would have allowed all MPPs to freely vote on delaying the implementation of the HST.

All three Ontario political parties had an agreement-in-principle to a ‘programming motion’ which would have allowed the Ontario PC Caucus to introduce a single motion on an issue of important public policy. After learning the Ontario PC Caucus intended to introduce a motion that recalled Dalton McGuinty’s promise not to raise taxes without the consent of Ontarians and calling for the HST to not be implemented until after the next provincial election, McGuinty quickly backtracked on his handshake deal.

This is the third time in a week that the McGuinty Liberals have been caught playing dirty political tricks with Ontario’s democratic rules. Previously the Liberals were caught leaking confidential legislative information as part of an unprecedented smear campaign against Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin and blocking Opposition MPPs from taking their seats on Budget Day.

Quotes:

– Lisa MacLeod, Ontario PC MPP for Nepean – Carleton and critic for Revenue and Accountability

– John Yakabuski, Ontario PC MPP for Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke and Opposition House Leader

Quick Facts:

The Ontario PC Motion that Dalton McGuinty broke his promise to kill reads as follows:

“That, in light of Premier McGuinty telling Ontario families the HST will be revenue-neutral when he knew all along “there will be an increase in taxation” as a result of it; the Legislative Assembly of Ontario calls upon the McGuinty government to delay implementation of the HST until a date following the next provincial general election.”

News:

The Ontario PC Caucus today challenged Dalton McGuinty to publicly account for the relationship between his government, the Ontario Liberal Party, and the ‘Working Families’ organization which has spent $7 million on surrogate Liberal attack ads over the past two Ontario election campaigns.

Members of ‘Working Families’ have received multiple taxpayer-funded payments from the McGuinty Government. Contributors to ‘Working Families’ have, to date, received $23.5 million from the McGuinty Government. In addition, ‘Working Families’ ad-men and pollsters have received over $5.6 million in taxpayer-funded contracts from the McGuinty Government.

McGuinty must also publicly account for ‘Working Families’ front man Patrick Dillon’s relationship with McGuinty’s former Chief of Staff and Campaign Director Don Guy, as well as former Liberal Finance Minister Greg Sorbara. Tomorrow Dillon will appear before the Standing Committee of Government Agencies where he will be called on to answer questions in advance of receiving his third McGuinty appointment to the Board of the College of Trades Appointment Council. To date Dillon’s appointments already pay combined per diems of $775 per day.

Quotes:

– Lisa Macleod, Ontario PC MPP for Nepean-Carleton and critic for Revenue and Government Accountability

– Lisa Macleod, Ontario PC MPP for Nepean-Carleton and critic for Revenue and Government Accountability

Quick Facts:

• In the 2003 and 2007 campaigns, Working Families spent $7 million on advertising directly attacking the Ontario PC Party to the benefit of the McGuinty Liberals.
• Since 2003, contributors to Working Families have received $23.5 million from the Government of Ontario.
• The McGuinty Liberals have appointed Patrick Dillon to the board of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, the Board of Infrastructure Ontario, and are now trying to appoint him to the Board of the College of Trades Appointment Council.