As Ontarians prepare to head to the the polls on June 7, there is still one local party that does not yet have their candidate in place.
Parry Sound-Muskoka NDP Riding President Diana McConnell said the party is planning on hosting a nomination meeting and will vote on a candidate at that point.
“We do have prospective candidates. We are hoping to have the nomination meeting before the writ drops. I will keep you posted,” she told Doppler in an April 19 email correspondence. While the party does not yet have a website, you can find their Facebook page here.
Other local contenders include incumbent Progressive Conservative MPP Norm Miller, Liberal candidate Brenda Rhodes and Green Party candidate Matt Richter.
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Some FACTS to consider .. We need change .. here … and.. stop using the American situation for vote baiting and show SOME respect for the US citizens! …
FACTS are her … https://www.fraserinstitute.org/ ….
Ontario is just a few weeks away from a general election. Whoever winds up in power after the vote will have a number of tough jobs on their hands. Once the engine of the Canadian economy, Ontario has seen its economy underperform over the past decade and a half. Public debt has soared, electricity policy is in shambles, and business investment remains weak. Addressing these difficult challenges is necessary for our prosperity and that of future Ontarians and doing so will require major policy reform.
But what policies are needed to get the province back on track? The Fraser Institute’s Ontario Prosperity Initiative, based out of our Toronto office, works to help answer this complicated question every day and to communicate the results broadly to Ontarians through research papers, opinion editorial columns, broadcast appearances, and through social media.
I hope you will take a few minutes to catch up on our recent efforts and the impact that we are having on policy debates in the province.
A Flat Tax for Ontario
On April 24th, we released Time for Tax Reform in Ontario, a new study which provides a detailed proposal to replace Ontario’s overly complex seven-tier personal income tax rate system with a simple and fair flat personal income tax rate of 8%. It also proposes to reduce the corporate income tax rate to match the personal 8% rate. Together, these changes would make Ontario one of the most competitive and pro-growth tax jurisdictions in North America and help the province compete for business investment and skilled labour with neighbouring U.S. jurisdictions.
I summarized the study in a recent op-ed column in the Toronto Sun: A single-rate 8% income tax for Ontario.
Ontario’s Lost Decade
In mid-March we released Ontario’s Lost Decade: 2007-2016 which finds that over the past decade, Ontario was at or near the bottom on several important economic indicators compared to Canada’s other provinces. The study showed that Ontario ranked: 7th in GDP growth per person; 8th in annual private-sector job growth; and dead last in median household income growth.
The study garnered significant attention including over 500 media mentions and front page coverage in the Toronto Sun:
Ontario lost decade
The study again generated a front page story this past week in Lorrie Goldstein’s column: Ontario’s ‘lost decade’ under the Liberals.
In addition to the impactful coverage in traditional media outlets, the Ontario PCs used the findings of the study in their own social media outreach efforts:
The sitting government took issue with our study, as the minister of Economic Development and Growth, Steven Del Duca, wrote a testy but poorly reasoned letter to the Toronto Sun. We responded, as we always do, with the facts and more evidence of the rigour and accuracy of our research and peer-review processes. Our response can be read here.
Ontario’s skyrocketing electricity prices
We released Understanding the Changes in Ontario’s Electricity Markets and Their Effects in early April, which was widely covered across the province and in national media including the Globe and Mail:
The study highlighted that Ontario is a prime example of how not to manage energy policy—extreme government interference in the electricity market has made life more unaffordable for Ontarians and damaged the province’s economy.
Pre-election spending increase at Queen’s Park
In early February, we released a study tracking spending by the Ontario government: Repeating Past Mistakes? Spending Restraint Critical for Ontario’s Fiscal Health.
With Ontario so heavily indebted, we were surprised to find that the Ontario government is ramping up program spending by more than $7 billion this year, or nearly six per cent. In light of this increase, it’s worth noting that 11 of the past 14 provincial budgets have been deficits, and Queen’s Park has more than doubled Ontario’s debt to $302 billion over the past 15 years.
Our report was widely covered with 440 media mentions and our findings were discussed in the Ontario PC leadership debate. Both Doug Ford and Carolyn Mulroney referenced our study on spending in Ontario within the first 10 minutes of the debate to help illustrate the fact there is room to find savings within the provincial budget.
High Profile Media and Commentaries
The work of the Institute and its Ontario Prosperity Initiative continues to make an impact on policy discourse in the province. I analyze provincial policy developments in a weekly column appearing in the Toronto and Ottawa Sun newspapers every Wednesday.
My recent columns include:
Most of Ontario’s new debt due to day-to-day spending
Why many parts of Ontario feel left behind
The Wynne budget—more spending, more fiscal problems, more debt
Ontario’s economic minister uses faulty analysis to attack facts and data
Canada can’t reach its full potential without an economically strong Ontario, and the policy decisions made in the years ahead will play a big role in determining how successful or unsuccessful our provincial economy will be.
I have long been an Andrea Horvath fan going back to when I was a seasonal cottage owner living full time in Hamilton. However, she has let us all down by not “leading ” a strong push for the NDP in Ontario and for us up here, Muskoka/Parry Sound. Norm Miller has been a very popular MPP but in a minority position the last 15 Years and this has hurt our area i’m sure financially. The fact that he is a Conservative, standing up for his party leader certainly prevents our area from resisting the unthinkable result of a Conservative win. A strong NDP could have made a coalition possible. If we get a Ford government, I hope those voters can face themselves. The Americans are having more problems with this each day for their similar choice.
Truly there is something wrong with the NDP – why in the world do they not have their candidate up and running? In a previous election, the NDP only had 67% of their riding nominations filled, when the election was called. Personally, I think it must be the responsibility of their leader (Andrea Horvath ——– who?) – she should have mandated that all candidates be selected by January – and those who were selected, should be selected by their own Riding Associations. In an election that has such a poor choice for the next Premier, again (this is her third election) Andrea Horvath is playing catch-up. We deserve who we elect.