Breaking News from Niagara At Large
Submitted by the Office of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne
(NAL is posting this speech as it wraps up in the provincial legislature. If you catch this post on time you may wish to click on the following link to a live feed of the Ontario premier’s meeting with media at Queen’s Park at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, February 19 at http://www.livestream.com/premierofontario . )
Ontario’s Speech from the Throne Focuses on Common Ground of Strong Economy, Fair Society, Effective Legislature
The New Ontario Government Emphasizing New Jobs, Strong Communities and Healthy, Engaged Citizens
NEWS – February 19, 2013
The new Ontario government is working toward a stronger province that will create good jobs and build strong communities across the province.
The Honourable David C. Onley, Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor, delivered the government’s Speech from the Throne in the legislature today.
The speech highlighted the government’s way forward to find common ground with the opposition so that Ontario can build a fair society, a strong economy and establish a more accountable legislature.
Highlights include:
- Eliminating the deficit by 2017-18.
- Introducing an even-handed approach to balancing the budget, allowing all parties to work together to find savings.
- Establishing better accountability in the legislature.
- Focusing on employment opportunities for Ontario’s youth, in partnership with education, labour and private sector partners.
- Ensuring municipalities and families have input on the location of energy infrastructure in their communities, while continuing to protect the environment and encourage conservation.
- Ensuring a respectful partnership with labour leaders by building a sustainable process for wage negotiation through collective bargaining.
- Continuing to build the best education and health care systems in the world.
QUOTES
“Our government is committed to cooperating with opposition parties to move Ontario forward. We will focus on balancing the budget and ensuring opportunities for every Ontarian without letting anyone slip through the cracks. When we work together, Ontario is a place of endless possibilities.”
— Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
QUICK FACTS
- David C. Onley is Ontario’s 28th Lieutenant Governor. He represents Her Majesty the Queen of Canada.This Speech from the Throne marks the beginning of the second session of the 40th Parliament of Ontario.
- Kathleen Wynne is Ontario’s first female premier.
LEARN MORE
Read and watch the Speech from the Throne.
The Speech From The Throne Follows
The Honourable David C. Onley, m.Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on the Opening of the Second Session of the 40 Parliament of the Province of Ontario
February 19, 2013
Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, members of the legislative assembly, men and women, young and
old, across this great province of Ontario.
I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the
Mississaugas of the New Credit.
Today it is my privilege as Her Majesty’s representative to deliver the first
Speech from the Throne drafted by this new government, as we mark the
beginning of the second session of the 40th Parliament of Ontario.
If you will allow me a moment of reflection, I would like to speak of another first,
a man whom, sadly, we have lost since I last addressed this legislature.
The Honourable Lincoln Alexander was the first black member of Parliament,
the first black cabinet minister, the first black lieutenant governor of Ontario.
But when he passed away last October, his granddaughters remembered him
simply as a true human being with flaws and perfections.
He was born and raised in Toronto, his heart belonged to Hamilton, but he
served on behalf of his entire province, and his nation.
He was not hemmed in by the prejudice of others, nor the expectations of his
time.
He demonstrated that every individual part of our being informs who we are but
it does not define who we are.
And that if we believe in our own abilities, our potential has no limits.
As a man, he was more than the sum of his parts and now, as a memory, he is a
symbol of the service we must endeavour to offer.
Your new government believes that Ontario is a place of endless possibilities.
Of flaws and perfections.
Where people have different backgrounds and different views, where they gaze
upon different skylines, but share the same hopes.
Your new government sees a great province that brings together disparate
elements and bonds them together as one.
And your new government believes the legislature should work the same way.
For the benefit of the entire province, your government intends to work with
opposition parties, in a spirit of renewed cooperation, to get the people’s
business done.
It does not believe that we are irreparably divided.
Or that the challenges we face cannot be overcome.
Nor will it look at any one issue in isolation from another, because your new
government believes that complex times require thoughtful, collaborative
solutions.
And that we can only surmount each obstacle by acknowledging that they are all
connected.
And that we are all connected.
So yes, your government will balance its books — it will also challenge the
people of Ontario to help the province innovate and grow.
And yes, your government will strive for economic prosperity — it will also
encourage a fair society, where all the people of Ontario have good jobs and
strong communities.
And where each and every one of us is safe, and healthy and cared for.
Your government will create a better process to ensure that all its partners,
including those within the public sector, are treated with respect.
But it will call upon these same partners to work with this new government so
we can journey forward, boldly, as one.
Today, we turn a page in history, in some respects.
Another series of firsts: the first day of a reopened legislature, the first female
premier.
We are not starting over, but we are dedicated anew.
A Steady Hand and a Bold Vision
The central objectives of your new government will be fiscal responsibility,
economic growth and increased employment — the bedrocks on which it will
build.
It will ensure opportunity for all without letting anyone slip through the cracks.
And it will send a clear message that Ontario’s finances are in steady hands, so
that the confidence of all sectors can be raised.
Your new government will restrain program spending to reduce Ontario’s debtto-
GDP ratio, while recommitting itself to eliminating the deficit by 2017-2018.
And after that, it will restrict overall spending increases to one per cent below
GDP growth until the province’s debt-to-GDP ratio returns to the pre-recession
level of 27 per cent.
It will also introduce a balanced approach to balancing the budget so that all
parties can work together to find savings without impacting the services on
which people rely.
However, your new government understands that Ontario’s true potential
cannot be reached through austerity alone.
And so it will continue to implement recommendations found in the Drummond
Report, including work to evaluate corporate tax compliance.
But it will also be driven by the quest for innovation and growth.
At the heart of this will be your new government’s action on job creation, which
will draw on the belief that an educated, skilled and diverse workforce is
Ontario’s greatest strength.
Your government looks to strengthen the earning potential of all men and
women of this province – whether they live in cities or small towns, the north or
the south – and enable everyone to have a good job and a secure paycheque.
It will empower its industries to expand and its individual citizens to excel.
Your government will coordinate its services with those of non-profit and
private sectors so that recent graduates, new Canadians and the unemployed can
find a practical path into the workforce.
To address the serious issue of youth unemployment, your government will join
forces with high school educators, colleges, universities, training partners and
employers to establish opportunities for young people to enhance their skills;
find placements, internships and co-op programs; and gain valuable, real world
experience.
Aboriginal communities must also have access to the tools and training they
need to fully participate in economic development opportunities, including
those related to our natural resources.
And so your government is working with Aboriginal communities to ensure that
the benefits of resource development are shared and opportunities for
education, training and employment are established.
Your government will ensure that all individuals can find their role in this
economy.
And so it calls on the private sector to increase the number of people with
disabilities in the Ontario workforce.
As a demonstration of its commitment to this goal, your government will shift
the Accessibility Directorate from the Ministry of Community and Social
Services to the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment.
Because men and women with disabilities deserve a level playing field.
A renewed partnership with business, educational institutions, not-for-profits
and labour will be at the heart of your government’s plans to build a modern,
competitive and dynamic economy.
And so your new government will work with the opposition and small business
to explore an increase in the Employer Health Tax exemption threshold.
It will look to stimulate productivity across all sectors, from automotive and
agriculture to film, music, and digital media; from small business to start-ups
and social entrepreneurs.
And your government will continue to assert Ontario’s pride of place in the
realms of manufacturing, financial services, tourism, forestry and natural
resource development.
But it will also support the exploration of new economic terrain.
It will work with financial institutions and government agencies to ensure that
small- and medium-sized enterprises have access to the capital they need to
expand.
And as a demonstration of that commitment, your government will contribute
$50 million to a new $300-million venture capital fund in partnership with its
federal counterparts and the private sector.
Your government will also capitalize on its trade corridors, expanding them and
making them attractive to global markets.
It will work with members of our diverse population to open up new
opportunities and expand the network of our possibilities.
It will help facilitate the smooth transfer of goods through important hubs like
Windsor, across the Detroit River International Crossing, and it will lead trade
missions to our valuable partners abroad.
Your government will visit our friends in India and China, but also in Southeast
Asia, eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America.
It will ensure that every part of the province has dependable, affordable sources
of energy.
And because conservation is the cheapest source of energy available, Ontario
will continue to be a leader in smart-grid technology and energy conservation,
and see the creation of new-economy jobs through the deployment of leading
energy efficiency technologies in our homes and our businesses.
It will also continue its work to end coal-fired energy generation, the single
largest climate change initiative currently underway in North America.
As your government moves forward, Ontario’s labour force will be treated fairly
and with respect.
It will sit down with its partners across all sectors to build a sustainable model
for wage negotiation, respectful of both collective bargaining and a fair and
transparent interest arbitration process, so that the brightness of our shared
future is not clouded by the indisputable economic realities of our time.
It will prove once again that Ontario is a great place to work and live, but also to
visit, to invest in, to believe in.
It will celebrate our hard work, our ingenuity, our diversity, our arts and culture,
and protect the beauty of our natural environment.
And it calls upon its legislative partners to join with the government in the
pursuit of a modern economy, a path to productivity, and good jobs right here in
Ontario.
Because the tools of progress must be forged in the fire of our collective will.
A New Sense of Community
Your government understands the importance of relationships in all their
manifestations.
The relationship between us as citizens; but also the relationship between
individual parts and the whole.
The ways in which our economy is supported by the roads we drive, and the
services we continue to offer.
Your government understands that if Ontario is to prosper, then individual
communities must prosper.
And that provinces must work together to advocate for their shared needs, and
raise their voices as one to demand that a great nation must have the capacity to
do great things.
Your government understands that infrastructure is the underpinning of our
economy, and that if we continue to lag behind then we will never leap forward.
The people of this province are ready to have a serious conversation about the
needs of their communities, whether those needs are better roads or stronger
bridges, repaired underpasses or accelerated, integrated transit planning.
To build these things and facilitate Ontario’s success, your government believes
that smart infrastructure investment can no longer be mired in political rhetoric.
Just as the hard-working men and women of this province can no longer afford
to waste their time stuck in traffic.
Or be isolated from one another, and the services they need, because their
communities are remote, or their funding is unpredictable.
If we continue to argue about the tools this investment will require then we are
deaf to the symphony of progress that echoes around us.
The new government is confident that the people of Ontario are willing to
participate in a practical discussion of these costs if they can be guaranteed
measurable results.
And those results will be found in the increase of our collective productivity, the
reduction of our daily commute times and the reduced impact on our climate
and natural environment.
But your government also realizes that these are not the hurdles of one city or
one province, but a race against time for Canada as a whole.
Addressing them will require cooperation from all orders of government, and so
your government will engage in conversation with its municipal and community
partners.
And it will also reach out to its provincial and territorial colleagues to advocate
for a national strategy on infrastructure and transit.
It will address the need for improvements to rural roads and bridges, suburban
transit, and a solution to the gridlock that threatens to cripple the Greater
Toronto and Hamilton Area.
It will address the special transportation needs of Ontario’s North and
endeavour to improve vital access to the Ring of Fire, and improve the flow of
people and goods along our trade corridors to the United States.
Because Ontario cannot evolve if it cannot move.
Your government intends to work with municipalities on other issues, too.
Because communities must be involved and connected to one another.
They must have a voice in their future and a say in their integrated, regional
development.
So that local populations are involved from the beginning if there is going to be
a gas plant or a casino or a wind plant or a quarry in their hometown.
Because our economy can benefit from these things, but only if we have willing
hosts.
Ontario communities must also remain safe.
Because every child in this province should be able to walk home without fear,
and no parent should face an unthinkable loss.
And so your government will explore how to improve collaboration along the
front lines of community safety, allowing police and prosecutors to build on
successful best practices across the justice system.
When it comes to the different regions of this province, your new government
will not address your issues in isolation because you are not isolated.
Your new government will work with municipal leaders in every region of this
province.
Because our rural and northern residents are unique, and their voices will be
heard.
But that same promise is made to young families in condos downtown, to
retirees in Ontario’s wine country, to the people of the north and the south and
the east and the west.
Because your government knows that its citizens are not defined by their
location alone.
Because we have autoworkers who live on rural roads, and we have local food
advocates who cycle to work in the city.
We have authors and artists and actors in Timmins and men and women who
love the outdoors but live in the growing city of London.
We are all extensions of the same landscape, part of the same province; and each
citizen will inform its government’s perspective and its actions.
Your government knows that Ontario comprises many parts, and is one part of
the Canadian whole.
And that while we are all different, we share the same goals.
A Fair Society
To climb to great heights, your government believes that everyone must have
the same firm footing.
If we help people now, we will help ourselves immeasurably in the future,
because the services provided by your government allow people to work, and
prosper and contribute.
Following the recommendations of Frances Lankin and Munir Sheikh, your new
government will work to help the unemployed find a job.
And to ensure that the challenging path they must navigate to free themselves
from social assistance is not made unduly difficult, your government will enable
them to keep more of what they earn through their hard work.
These are people whom all parties hope to empower, and your government
encourages the legislature to work together on their behalf.
Your government will also ensure that our citizens have a safe, secure and
affordable place to live.
The day-to-day interests of people across Ontario must be addressed, and your
government will strive to protect their privacy and their pocketbooks.
It will help this province’s nine million drivers by continuing to implement the
recommendations of the Auto Insurance Anti-Fraud Task Force, protecting
individuals against fraud and working to reduce insurance rates across Ontario.
And it will look to strengthen the rights of Ontario’s consumers when it comes
to door-to-door sales, debt settlement services, real estate transactions and
mobile and smartphone contracts.
Because our marketplace must be fair, and the prices we pay transparent.
The happiness and health of Ontario residents must be enshrined, and so your
government will also continue to build the strongest and most innovative health
care system in the world, so that the hospitals and research institutions in places
like Thunder Bay and Toronto keep setting international standards and saving
innumerable lives.
Your government is committed to health promotion to combat smoking and
obesity, and it believes strongly in patient-centred care and evidence-based
health policy.
Along with all parties in the legislature, it understands the pressing need to
expand access to home care in Ontario.
And so your government will continue to expand the support available to people
in their homes, and to address the needs of men and women across Ontario
currently waiting for the home care services they require.
Your government will also continue to expand access to mental health services
and support efforts to reduce stigma for men and women coping with mental
illness.
It will work with partners in all related sectors to coordinate the best response to
these challenges because Ontario’s minds and spirits must be healthy, too.
It will also move forward with a Seniors Strategy to ensure that Ontario can best
respond to the needs of its aging population.
It will promote partnership between health care providers – from hospitals and
long-term care homes, to community support services and front line medical
providers through Community Health Links – so that the care of our loved ones
and our most vulnerable citizens is constant and cohesive.
To ensure the best treatment for our children, our parents, grandparents and our
friends, your government believes the research community must be supported in
its work.
And it is therefore announcing renewed support for the Ontario Brain Institute
through a funding partnership with the private sector.
Every dollar your government contributes will leverage four additional dollars
from its partners by 2018.
A healthy community also requires strong doses of compassion and forethought.
And so your government will continue to prioritize education and inclusion.
It will keep building a comprehensive early learning and care system, including
the successful extension of full-day kindergarten and child care.
It will show its respect for teachers, support staff, principals and school boards.
Because our young people will experience a world of which we can now only
dream, and we must all work together to ensure they are equipped with the
appropriate tools for their time.
They must be literate in the languages of tomorrow; encouraged to pursue the
paths of their choosing and prepared for the challenges ahead.
We must teach them to work together and to believe in themselves.
We must emphasize critical thinking, creativity, teamwork and an
entrepreneurial spirit.
We must enamour them to the possibilities of science, math and technology.
We must help them feel safe and take their ideas and their input seriously.
And so your government will create a permanent Premier’s youth advisory
council.
It will continue to offer the 30 Per Cent Off Ontario Tuition Grant to help more
people get a postsecondary education.
And your government believes that First Nation, Metis and Inuit children must
share in every opportunity, too.
That we must close the gap with their peers so that they can live and learn and
play as they like.
And we must all acknowledge that their proud heritage does not preclude their
full participation.
Your government will work with Aboriginal communities, but the federal
government must also live up to its important obligations in this regard.
Your government will ensure that attention and respect are extended to all.
It will ensure that Ontario’s Francophone community is recognized and
celebrated for its culture and its contributions.
And so your government will expand the availability of French postsecondary
programs in central and southwestern Ontario.
Our community of new Canadians will be shown that where they were born will
not limit what they can achieve.
Ontario is home to citizens who speak many languages; who have brought their
culture, their training and their aspirations to this province.
Your government sees Ontario’s diverse population as an asset to be exalted.
It is not just a mosaic but a valuable work of art, from which we can glean great
knowledge.
The people of this province may speak different languages. They may be young
or old, healthy or ailing, rich or poor.
But the parties of this legislature should have their trust, and they deserve our
fairness and our support.
The Way Forward
Your government believes that if we can hope to serve Ontario, then we must act
together, as one.
The people of Ontario expect this of all members of the legislative assembly.
It is what they want and it is what they deserve.
Members of provincial parliament must be conduits for their constituents, so
this legislature can hear all the voices of this province and represent all of its
diverse needs.
ll parties and each member will be encouraged to contribute to this process, to
make their insights known.
Your new government hopes that ideas will be put forward with optimism and
purpose, and that voices will not be raised solely for the pursuit or retention of
power.
Your government is committed to finding real, creative solutions to the issues
we face.
To do this, it will direct its efforts across these aisles, within its ministries, and
in partnership with other provinces.
When Ontario hosts the Council of the Federation in Niagara-on-the-Lake this
summer, it will work with our provincial partners to expedite the return of
principled transfer arrangements with the federal government.
Closer to home, your government expects the talent and tenacity of its public
servants to help propel this province to greatness.
It will not over-promise, nor will it be bowed into submission.
It will be respectful and direct, honest and decisive.
Your government, and your cabinet ministers, will be accountable to all the
people of Ontario, and work to prevent mistakes before they occur.
And it will work with all parties in the legislature to review the decisions to
relocate energy infrastructure in this province.
Your new government is committed to getting real work done on behalf of all the
people of Ontario, and it calls upon members of the legislature to come together
in support of that noble goal.
There are so many opportunities for progress, for all parties to join together.
There is common ground that transcends partisan politics, and it is found in the
desire to make Ontario’s economy stronger; to improve its transportation
networks and give all the people of this province the same opportunities,
purpose and pride.
Your government believes all things are possible.
Your government will not be hemmed in by expectations.
It will explore the endless geography of our shared potential.
Because we are one province, and together we can be more than the sum of our
parts.
Your government will tackle its flaws and celebrate the perfections of its people.
Your government will bring together disparate elements and bond them together
as one.
Both within these hallowed halls and across this glorious province.
Because we are people with different backgrounds and different views, we gaze
upon different skylines but we all share the same hopes.
And your government will endeavour to serve for the benefit of all.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwetch.
(Niagara At Large encourages all visitors to this site to share their views on this post or any other posts NAL has posted. Divergent views are most welcome in the spirit of NAL’s goal to operate as a virtual town hall for discussing and debating issues of interest and concern to our communities and countries across the greater Niagara region and beyond.)
Same old same old. I read the text of the speech and all I saw were the same old tired catch phrases, cliches and empty platitudes.
The Liberals are worn out. The Conservatives under Hudak are downright dangerous. The NDP under Horwath are somewhat irrelevant.
Ontario faces a political crisis of immense proportions – No decent leader in sight for any political party!
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Will, that’s why we need new faces/a new party unencumbered with loyalties to lobbyists and paying back for votes from certain centered jurisdictions.
We need less government not more.
We need less union influence in our public service not more.
We need to measure twice and cut once on the design of ALL government programs that involve spending.
We need all levels of government to adhere to an election process that involves the development of a party mandate upon which they are elected. Not a bunch of promises and then once in office, their true agenda becomes public.
That is a true democracy!
We need a lot of things, I agree, that none of our parties will ever satisfy.
Looks like we have more of the same coming from these social communistic liberals.
Sadly……just sayin……
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