Press Releases
Nicholls to government: Get focused on private sector jobs
February 29, 2012
“I move that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario reaffirms its support for the planned reduction of the business tax rate on Ontario’s job creators to 10 per cent by next year, to help get the nearly 600,000 unemployed Ontarians working again.”
– Tim Hudak’s Opposition Day Motion on the business tax rate, February 29, 2012
QUEEN’S PARK – Chatham-Kent-Essex MPP Rick Nicholls said today the defeat of Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak’s motion calling for job-creating tax relief is just one more sign the Liberal government is unable to cope with the economic crisis it has created.
“My riding has felt the crippling effects of Dalton McGuinty’s anti-growth, anti-private sector agenda for too long”, Nicholls said. “The situation in Ontario is growing dire. The private sector needs to know that it has a partner at Queen’s Park. I’m proud to say I, and the caucus I serve with, stand beside Ontario’s home-grown businesses.
“But while I’m proud of our caucus’s efforts today, and the efforts of our leader Tim Hudak, I’m disappointed and frustrated by the Liberals and the NDP, and their insistence on keeping Ontario in an economic Stone Age by defeating this motion.”
Nicholls said the Ontario’s fiscal crisis is a challenge with two distinct sides. First is the need to get the size and cost of Dalton McGuinty’s bloated government under control. The second is to show the world that Ontario can again be a leader in attracting the kind of businesses that once made our province a nation-wide economic force.
“Our province’s private sector is suffering, but it’s not because our business leaders, workers, and entrepreneurs can’t get the job done. It’s because the McGuinty government, despite every opportunity to put aside politics and commit to private sector growth, finds the idea of slapping Ontario business with more taxes too appealing.
“Worst of all, for every failure to seize a pro-growth opportunity, there is another warning hurled at this government that the time to act is right now. The Drummond Report, with its forecast of a $411 billion in McGuinty-created debt in just 5 years, is only the latest.”
Nicholls said this is an issue that should transcend politics and speak to the duty of every MPP.
“I’ve been an entrepreneur. I know what it’s like to worry about a shaky economy. And every MPP in the Legislature knows countless businesses in their riding that are struggling. I urge the opposition caucuses to reconsider their dangerous positions before it’s too late.”
