| |||||
|
 What's New Donate to the Party Volunteer Party Membership Interesting Links Photo Album Riding Executive Youth Association Contact Us Golf Tournament Victorian House Tour
 Riding Association P.O. Box 21008 31 Ninth Street East Cornwall, Ontario K6H 7L8
Tel: (613) 936-8037
E-mail: |
John Tory takes his seat in the Legislature, presses McGuinty on deficit and health care
(Queen's Park) March 29, 2005 - John Tory was sworn in today as the MPP for Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey and the new Leader of the Official Opposition, immediately getting to work asking Dalton McGuinty for answers on the ballooning deficit and health care.
"The people are rightly frustrated by a Premier who says one thing and does another," Tory said in his first question. "People are also frustrated by the apparent lack of any plan to deal with the deficit. What we have is a deficit that has gone up substantially under the McGuinty Liberals and has gone up notwithstanding billions more in revenue coming from the taxpayers and the LCBO."
Tory also pressed the McGuinty Liberals on their record on health care and their inability to inform hospitals of their funding for the next fiscal year, which begins in two days. "Premier, this mismanagement just simply isn't acceptable - not to taxpayers and not to patients who rely on the health care system," Tory said.
"Hospitals can't address patients I saw lying in hallways if they don't know what their operating budget will be," Tory said. "The McGuinty Liberals found money to fire nurses, money for a casino expansion and even found money last week to partially reverse their privatization of physiotherapy. When are hospitals going to get a clear message about the money they will receive for the fiscal year that starts Friday?"
Tory also said he heard at countless doorsteps during the by-election in Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey that people have lost faith in their elected politicians. One of the few promises he made during the campaign was to make his constituents proud and help restore faith in the political process.
"The opportunity for individual MPPs to make a real difference is at a low ebb today," Tory said. "I would like to work with the other parties and all members to see if we can reverse that. When you think of the challenges we have and the talents that exist in this chamber on all sides, it really is a time to get all hands on deck."
 |
