McGuinty Liberal budget can’t be trusted, says MPP Arnott

NEWS RELEASE
Ted Arnott, MPP
Wellington – Halton Hills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2011

McGuinty Liberal budget can’t be trusted, says MPP Arnott
(Queen’s Park) – Massive spending increases can only lead to one thing: massive tax increases,
says Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott. That’s exactly what he says Ontario should expect,
he believes, for as long as the McGuinty Liberals remain in office.

“They say they won’t raise taxes, but nobody believes them anymore,” said Mr. Arnott. “The spending in this budget is a clear signal that higher taxes are coming, and it shows the Liberals are
still completely out-of-touch with the concerns of average Ontario families.”

Mr. Arnott made the point following the Finance Minister’s presentation of the provincial budget
today in the Ontario Legislature.

“We can only guess what new taxes the McGuinty Liberals will introduce after the next election,”
said Mr. Arnott. “After explicitly promising not to raise taxes, they brought in the health tax, the HST
and eco taxes—and we have every reason to believe they’ll do it again.”

The budget does nothing to address the escalating cost of hydro and the added burden of the
HST—concerns Mr. Arnott says are most difficult for the constituents contacting him. Instead, the
budget speech focused heavily on the opposition.

“The Minister of Finance spent a great deal of time attacking Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC Party,”
observed Mr. Arnott. “It was unprecedented and reprehensible.”

For all the spending contained in the budget, there was no mention of what Mr. Arnott believes are
among the most significant priorities in Wellington-Halton Hills: the Georgetown Hospital CT scanner
and emergency room project, the new Groves Memorial Community Hospital project, and the
Highway 6 bypass around Morriston.

“The budget was an opportunity for the government to announce they would actually do these
things,” said Mr. Arnott. “I’m disappointed they missed that opportunity.”

According to the budget, the government plans to spend $2.5 billion on hospital infrastructure and
$2.1 billion on provincial highway infrastructure. “Surely, in those massive allocations, they can find
what’s needed to support our priorities,” concluded Mr. Arnott.

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Ted Arnott, MPP
Phone: 416-325-3880
Email: ted.arnott@pc.ola.org