By RADHIKA PANJWANI
February 15, 2011
At a lunch presentation to a Brampton crowd, Premier Dalton McGuinty painted an optimistic picture of Ontario’s economy, saying when it comes to education, health care, tax reforms and infrastructure, the province was simply among the best in the world.
The address, to some 220 members of the Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT), took place yesterday at the Garden Banquet and Convention Centre located near Steeles Avenue and Kennedy Road.
Using a 30-minute Powerpoint presentation, personal anecdotes and statistics, McGuinty boasted some 18 new hospitals had been built or were in-the-works, wait-times in hospitals had been reduced significantly and investments made with respect to clean energy, employment and infrastructure were all paying off.
On the issue of a specific time line and funding for Peel Memorial Hospital (PMH), the Premier however remained noncommittal.
“I haven’t personally seen a business proposal yet, but I have heard good things about the plans,” he said. “We’re still in the early stages and are consulting with the Local Health Integrated Network (LHIN) and Brampton Board of Trade. Our commitment to the rebuilding of Peel Memorial Hospital remains strong.”
On the economic front, the Premier said the province has regained 96 per cent of the 250,000 jobs lost in the recession. But his critics begged to differ.
“He’s painting a rosy picture (of the economy) because the premier wears rose-coloured glasses,” said Peter Shurman, MPP Thornhill and the PC critic on economic development. “He (McGuinty) likes to think the world started at the point when we went into recession... The world started for him in 2003 when he got elected and by the time the recession started, we had already lost 300,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs as he continued to decimate the province by making it a province where business wasn’t welcome. What may or may not be true is that we regained jobs to pre-recession levels, but what has happened is: we have replaced full-time jobs with part time jobs and replaced high-paying jobs with low-paying jobs.”
On the local front, McGuinty said Ontario’s decision to bailout the auto industry was a sound one. He cited Chrysler’s decision to make three new vehicles– Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger– at its Brampton plant as a positive outcome.
Gary Collins, CEO of BBOT said the premier’s visit was topical as it offered the board a chance to discuss many local issues such as the building of Peel Memorial Hospital and widening of Hwy. 410.
“The board is concerned with a few issues,” said Collins. “We want to make sure the PMH site gets built. We support the business plan that has been submitted by the hospital to the Ontario government and we also want the Hwy. 410 looked at again and we would encourage that be a priority for the government and we believe traffic numbers would warrant that.”