Tory leader Brown asks Wynne 10 questions

In a release Friday, Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown said he wanted to publicly ask Premier Kathleen Wynne 10 questions since she won't call an early byelection so the former federal MP can enter the Legislature.

“If Premier Wynne truly believes that her government’s policies are good for the province, she should be open to having me in the Legislature as Leader of the Official Opposition, asking her questions come September,” Brown said in the release.

“However, since the Liberals continue to play political games, I intend to highlight questions I would ask during Question Period - questions that the premier wants to avoid answering.”

Wynne has said she can't call a byelection in Simcoe North, where Brown intends to run, until after the Oct. 19 federal election. So Brown released a David Letterman-style Top 10 list of the questions he would ask if he were in the Ontario Legislature.

“Whether it’s a new ORPP payroll tax, carbon tax, skyrocketing hydro prices, or more red tape, this government is making it harder for businesses to operate in Ontario and for families to get by,” the release continued.

“They don’t respect the value of a hard-earned dollar, and their reckless overspending means less money is available for the services Ontarians care about, like health care and education. The Wynne Liberals just aren’t in it for Ontarians anymore.”

Ontarians deserve to know that their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent appropriately, the release said.

“Part of that accountability involves an honest debate of ideas in the Legislature. The Ontario PC Party continues to urge Premier Wynne to do the right thing, and call a byelection.”

PC Leader Patrick Brown’s Top 10 Questions for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

1. Everyone knows about the $1.1 billion wasted on your government’s gas plant scandal. Everyone knows you threw away $2 billion with your smart meter fiasco. And sadly, too many people know first-hand about the $83 million in Hydro One billing errors?. That’s over $3.1 billion wasted on the energy file alone, meanwhile hydro rates continue to rise by an extra $100. Seniors on fixed incomes don’t have any more money to spend on Hydro; they just can’t afford it. Premier, will you admit that your mismanagement and waste has led to skyrocketing hydro rates that are the highest in North America?  

2. While you tried to distract Ontarian families with talk of wine and beer in grocery stores, you quietly cut $54 million from the front lines of health care. That means for the fourth consecutive year the Orillia Soldiers Memorial Hospital won’t see one new dollar of investment.
Because of this, it is forcing them to cut operating rooms and beds, and potentially close its geriatric day hospital. Premier, when will you restore funding and give the seniors of Simcoe County the health care that they spent years paying for?

3. Under your government’s watch Ontario has seen more than 350,000 manufacturing jobs leave the province since 2004. Many times, in just this past year, we’ve seen companies choose the United States or Mexico over Ontario. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce sent a letter signed by 150 major employers telling you that your new payroll tax will force them to cut jobs. You said you’d listen before making rash decisions but now you have 150 major employers expressing concern. Premier, will you finally listen and acknowledge that your payroll tax will force employers to layoff hardworking Ontarians?
4. Your Liberal government promised peace in the classroom. Yet, we are now seeing chaos in the education system. The strike in Durham was the longest in 25 years and 500,000 students didn't get report cards on the last day of school. Students are already planning protests because extra-curricular activities have been cancelled, and parents are looking for non-existent daycare spaces.
If this is your idea of labour peace, I could only imagine what real unrest would look like. Premier, where is the labour peace you promised parents and children? Why have you created a summer of anxiety?

5. Ontario is just a few weeks away from the two-year anniversary of your Liberal government’s $60 million cut to physiotherapy. Seniors across the province are having a tougher time accessing the care they need because the interest on the debt is taking money that should be going to front line services like physiotherapy.
You say you understand the importance of preventative health care but you certainly haven’t demonstrated it. When seniors don’t get physiotherapy it impacts mobility and quality of life. Seniors homes are seeing an increase in preventable falls because of these cuts. In fact, your cuts are costing the health care system more because it needs to treat the injuries as a result. Premier, stop hurting seniors and restore the physiotherapy funding that they deserve.

6. The CEO of Fiat Chrysler and the Mayor of Windsor have warned you about the hostile environment you have created for the auto industry in Ontario. The payroll pension tax, the cap-and-trade tax on everything, the skyrocketing energy prices, and ever increasing red tape, is putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk of disappearing.
That’s tens of thousands of Ontario families that won’t be able to pay their bills or put their children through school if they lose their job. Premier, when will you reverse course and stop thumbing your nose at an industry that is as important to Ontario as potash is to Saskatchewan and oil is to Alberta?

7. The Great Lakes Protection Act and the Lake Simcoe Protection Act are nothing more than photo op environmentalism. There are no dollars, there is no investment; there is nothing but weasel words in those bills. Your Liberal government must stop using buzzwords and photo ops at Queen's Park, and must take protecting our lakes seriously with real action. Premier, what is your plan to deal with the high phosphorus levels and invasive species— the real issues facing our waterways?

8. You haven’t sold a share of Hydro One, yet you’ve stripped all independent oversight. Without the Ombudsman and Auditor General, Hydro One would never have started to deal with the billing problems that have hurt their customers, and for some, emptied out their bank accounts.
There were over 10,000 customer complaints to the Ombudsman. The Auditor General uncovered the $2 billion wasted on smart meters. The problems are so bad that there is a $125 million class action lawsuit against Hydro One.
Despite all of this, you’ve blindly forged ahead, removing all customer protection and independent oversight. Premier, will you protect Hydro One customers and commit to restoring independent oversight?

9. Under your Liberal government’s watch the Ontario mining sector has fallen from first in the world to 23rd. The Ring of Fire is a perfect example. Red tape has led to years of delays for basic approvals, there’s no commitment to proper transportation corridors, and rising energy rates are making it even more difficult for businesses to invest in the region.
Premier, your hopes and wishes aren’t going to generate the jobs and investment that Northerners and Aboriginal communities are looking for. When will you have a shovel in the ground to bring about the economic potential of the Ring of Fire?

10. This year Ontario families are being forced to pay $11.4 billion in interest payments because of your scandals and mismanagement. My nephew Colton is only three years old and you’ve already burdened him with a debt of more than $21,000. That debt could pay his university tuition or even buy him a car.
Premier, how will you explain to my nephew that he will spend his entire life paying off your government’s debt because of your fiscal mismanagement?