Energized PC Party Looks Towards To Next Election

John Tory Leader of the Ontario PC Party

February 19, 2006

Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today said this weekend’s Policy Conference in Niagara Falls showed great momentum and will be an important foundation for the Party’s policy development leading up to the next election.

“The conference this weekend was a great success,” said Tory. “We spent the weekend discussing many of the policies and ideas that will become our foundation as we move towards the next election.”

Over 1,000 people from around the province attended the Policy Conference. The conference marked the mid-point in the Party’s policy process leading up to the next election and focused on listening and reaching out to all Ontarians. Participants spent their time listening to a number of informed speakers and discussing six white papers on Prosperity, Health Care, Our Children’s Future, Energy, Strong Rural and Northern Communities

“The success of the conference this weekend was because it was open and transparent,” said Tory. “It was about real people discussing real ideas about the issues that matter most to them. Thanks to the workbooks we were handing out we will have hundreds of pages of grassroots input that will help us in building Ontario’s new foundations.”

“Party members showed real excitement and enthusiasm this weekend. There is a real sense of momentum. The Party is steadily strengthening, its finances improving, we are working together, reaching out to new members and listening to one another. It is an exciting time to be a Progressive Conservative in Ontario,” Tory said.

“Unlike the McGuinty Liberals, we will not make any commitment that we cannot keep,” said Tory. “There is a real cynicism towards politicians in this province right now because the current government made a lot of bad promises they could not deliver on. This weekend was a demonstration that we are committed to doing things differently.”