TORY URGES MPS TO ADDRESS
FUNDING GAP
John Tory meets with Harper, Conservative MPs and calls for action to help Ontario
(Ottawa, ON) – Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today urged federal Conservative MPs from the province to apply more pressure on the federal Liberal government to see that Ontario’s needs are met.
“Ontario taxpayers know they are paying enough tax to all levels of government. What they don’t understand is why we have a huge surplus in Ottawa while Ontario struggles to fund public services,” said Tory following meetings with Opposition Leader Stephen Harper and Ontario Conservative MPs.
Tory said taxpayers are getting fed up with seeing governments continuously bicker about taxpayers’ money as if it was their own. “They should be working together on long-term solutions to these problems, not just applying more band aids,” Tory said.
While Tory welcomed the overnight thaw in relations between Ontario and federal Liberals, he is anxious to know more about the deal worked out between Ministers Joe Volpe and Greg Sorbara at a hastily arranged weekend meeting.
“Many of the items on their list are things we have seen these Liberal governments agree on before, with no results. We will wait and see if this is real or not. In any event, we still need a longer term national solution which goes beyond political fixes and one-off deals for any province,” Tory said.
Tory urged federal Conservative MPs to ensure that the funding gap issue has a prominent place on their political agenda as events unfold in the next few months.
“I am dealing with a tax and spend Liberal government at Queen’s Park,” said Tory. “They are dealing with a Liberal government in Ottawa which needs some help addressing the needs of Ontario residents. The taxpayers just want to see some action which gives them some value for their money.”
