In a not unprecedented but highly unorthodox move, former Ontario Premier Mike Harris has come out swinging in a National Post article about Ontario's steady economic decline since his departure from office in 2002.
In a devastating take-down of the Dalton McGuinty record -- which has, at least indirectly, led to Ontario becoming a "have-not" province -- the Mike Harris of old shone through to remind us of the imperatives of controlling government spending, keeping taxes low and bold economic thinking.
Why is this article important? Aside from the fact that its the first time anyone has mounted a serious, poignant and coherent challenge to the McGuinty record since 2003, it's the fact that Harris felt obliged to do so. In normal circumstances a past leader would defer to the current one. But the Tories are so AWOL in the Ontario public debate, someone had to step up and fill the void. Harris notes:
Following the failed paths of the David Peterson and Bob Rae regimes, over the last five years the provincial government has increased spending by an average of 8% each year. During this same period, the Ontario economy grew in nominal terms by 4% annually. This means that the Ontario government is actually spending twice as much as it can afford. It has created a spending machine, and this machine can only be fuelled by red-hot economic times. This is simply not sustainable.
Nice to know this statistic -- I had not heard it before. Thank you, Mike Harris, for reminding Ontarians what being conservative means again.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:55 PM
