MPP Jim McDonell put the Government’s commitment to reining in deficit spending to the test today with a Private Member’s motion. The motion would have instructed the Government to enact an immediate broader public sector wage freeze and address the loopholes that allowed 98% of public sector managers to receive bonus pay. The Liberals teamed up with the NDP to defeat the motion.

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Queen's Park - Sep. 18, 2012 - MPP Jim McDonell put the Government’s commitment to reining in deficit spending to the test today with a Private Member’s motion. The motion would have instructed the Government to enact an immediate broader public sector wage freeze and address the loopholes that allowed 98% of public sector managers to receive bonus pay. The Liberals teamed up with the NDP to defeat the motion.

McDonell commented: “The Government’s and NDP’s true colours show when push comes to shove. Once again the PC Caucus offered Dalton McGuinty the opportunity to commit to a path of reducing debt and spending, which would help our Province out of the fiscal hole he dug us into for the past nine years. Today’s vote demonstrates how empty the Premier’s tough talk on public sector compensation is. Our leader Tim Hudak highlighted that it took McGuinty almost a year to say the words “wage” and “freeze” in the same sentence. We can’t wait another year for him to finally mean it. Six hundred thousand unemployed Ontarians are fed up with wasteful spending and weakness in the face of public sector unions.”

Jim McDonell, MPP admonished the NDP: “They will tout their own bill 118 as a solution to the bonus debacle, but it isn’t. The NDP’s bill only affects the tiny fraction of public sector managers not covered by a collective agreement. Ontarians have grown tired of Dalton McGuinty’s smoke and mirrors; by touting their policies as something they’re not, the NDP demonstrate how out of touch they are with those Ontarians who are struggling to find work or to keep it.”

The Ontario PC Caucus remains committed to its three tenets of Freezing, Fixing and Reducing. A broader public sector wage freeze will stop the financial bleeding of the provincial treasury, allowing the Government to fix the fundamentals of the economy that will attract job-creators and investors. A reduction in the size and cost of government will contribute to making Ontario the best place to live and do business in Canada.