Government not helping Ontario
By Judith Moses

It's time to start holding our leaders accountable for their behaviour as well as their policies.

Every Ontarian should be outraged with the way the federal Conservative Finance Minister criticized our province in recent weeks. How does telling the world that Ontario should be the last place to consider investing help attract muchneeded foreign investment to our communities and businesses?

How do we restore Canada's manufacturing heartland to health and preserve jobs when our own federal finance minister resorts to crass partisanship rather than prudent economic cooperation? How does publicly calling for broad corporate tax cuts the day before the tabling of the provincial budget contribute to timely dialogue and partnership or to sound economic management? Investors respond to confidence, and Flaherty by his comments shows that he would gladly diminish investor confidence in Ontario for the sake of his own partisan maneuvering.

Canada needs leadership that is based on respect, diplomacy and oldfashioned cooperation. We expect good, healthy, democratic debate over such policy choices as further lowering corporate taxes or focusing on job training, investments in infrastructure and education.

What is the Conservative government's position on maintaining and building good manufacturing jobs in Ontario? Seven per cent of Ontario's jobs are in the auto sector with spin-off wage multipliers in communities in York - Simcoe. Let's discuss how to stay competitive through building strategic skills, investing in technology and working together to sustain a robust manufacturing sector and healthy communities.

Sadly, Flaherty's comments are part of a pattern of Conservative name-calling and destructive partisanship. Already York - Simcoe MP and the Minister for Democratic Reform Peter Van Loan has resorted to calling the Premier of Ontario "the small man of Confederation" for his opposition to a seat redistribution bill that is patently unfair to Ontario. Unfortunately, the pattern is one where bullying, partisanship, and conflict are becoming the tools of government.

Judith Moses is the nominated federal Liberal candidate for York - Simcoe in the next federal election.