SPRINGWATER NEWS- JULY 2008

MPP DUNLOP: ANOTHER 24,000 JOBS LOST IN ONTARIO IN JUNE

The Province of Ontario lost another 24,000 jobs in the month of June. The unemployment rate rose to 6.7%. Overall Ontario lost a total of 46,000 full time jobs in June but that was tempered by the fact that 22,000 part time jobs were created.

Clearly, the creation and maintenance of jobs in Ontario has not been a priority for the current government. Since January of 2005, the province has lost a total of approximately 205,000 manufacturing jobs.

The Official Opposition is calling on the Government of Ontario to immediately call an Economic Summit which we would expect would result in recommendations and policies that would encourage investment and the creation of jobs in Ontario. For example, the Official Opposition under the guidance of Finance Critic Tim Hudak put forth a Summer Tax Relief Plan that would have seen the Provincial Sales Tax exempt for tourist attractions and accommodations for the summer months. For a family of four, this would have meant a savings of approximately $100 on a weekend vacation in an Ontario tourist area. The $100 saving would help balance out the increased costs of fuel to travel to a destination like Toronto, Muskoka, Huronia or Niagara Falls. The Minster of Tourism responded by saying that the Official Opposition’s Summer Tax Relief Plan was “piecemeal” and that everything was just fine in Ontario. Nothing could be further from the truth.

On a daily basis I talk to farmers, tourism operators, manufacturers and contractors who almost unanimously agree that the Ontario economy and its’ businesses are on the verge of a fairly significant recession. With the Ontario government increasing spending 41% in the past five years to support programming, the government will require a vibrant economy to support the government spending. We have seen no indication that the government of Ontario has done anything that would encourage investment and the creation of new full-time private sector jobs.

Whereas the previous government established an economic environment that resulted in the private sector creating over one million jobs in Ontario between 1995 and 2003, it is now difficult to watch our economy decline to a province of part time workers.