Reset? More like rehash, says MPP Arnott
NEWS RELEASE
Ted Arnott, MPP
Wellington-Halton Hills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 12, 2016
Reset? More like rehash, says MPP Arnott
(Queen’s Park) – A Throne Speech that was sold as a “reset” for the Wynne Government seems
instead to be a rehash of old Liberal policies, says Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott.
“I listened very carefully and took notes during the Throne Speech. There was very little that
was new,” Mr. Arnott said.
Not only was the Throne Speech bereft of new ideas, Mr. Arnott believes its timing was purely
political.
“After losing the by-election in Scarborough-Rouge River on September 1, a seat the Liberals
had held for decades, the Government announced last Thursday they were proroguing the
Legislature. There is no question that this was directly tied to their by-election loss,” Mr. Arnott
asserted. “The Premier appears to be panicking.”
In this instance, prorogation meant that all the Bills that were before the House died, and the
Fall Sitting of the Legislature would commence with a Speech from the Throne, supposedly
outlining a new legislative agenda.
While the Throne Speech highlighted eight broad subject areas which the Government says are
priorities, including a commitment to rebate the provincial portion of the HST on residential and
small business hydro bills, almost all of the Throne Speech was a rehash of what the
Government already claims to be doing, Mr. Arnott maintains.
“We launched a petition protesting skyrocketing hydro rates last January, and I’ve been reading
them in the House ever since. People know that it’s the deliberate, conscious decisions of the
Liberal Government that are driving up rates,” Mr. Arnott observed. “It seems amazing that it
took a by-election loss in Scarborough for the Government to finally wake up, and realize that
people can’t afford their hydro bills.”
The Throne Speech also included a commitment to reintroduce all of the Government bills that
died on the Order Paper when the House was prorogued.
“The fact that they’re planning to reintroduce all of the old legislation shows that the Liberals
have run out of ideas. They’re also running out of time,” Mr. Arnott concluded.
– 30 –
Ted Arnott, MPP
Phone: 416-325-3880
Email: ted.arnott@pc.ola.org