Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty refutes the Bloc
Québécois's assessments of the "special" relationship between the
federal government and Queen's Park, but also admits that he has
"found a fair amount of common ground" with Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's government in Ottawa and is looking forward to having more
Members of Parliament from Ontario in Ottawa.
The economy is picking up, but there are still
many concerns. Can you say exactly where Ontario is at right
now?
"It's probably fair to say that the recession has
finally relaxed its grip on Ontario and our economy. But, we will be
prudent—in keeping with the best advice that we have received,
including from folks like the advice from Governor Mark Carney from
the Bank of Canada. This year we continue to stimulate the economy.
Our plan was over the course of two years to put in about
$32.5-billion in infrastructure. This year, I think, we will be
putting in $17-billion, roughly, to create—again roughly—200,000
jobs. But I consider this the hand off year. This is the year when
we turn to the private sector and say, all right we'll keep pushing;
we'll keep priming the pump this year. We'll create these jobs,
making sure there is money getting into the economy, but next year,
over to you. We're cutting corporate taxes. We are limiting the
capital tax. We are moving ahead with the HST. We are doing
everything we need to do to build a new foundation for economic
growth and we are going to need business, of course, to run with
that."
Talking about the deficit and surpluses, isn't
that kind of ironic that Toronto has a surplus but wants money from
you who's running a huge deficit?
"I didn't get a full report on the press conference. We
have all got our challenges. I think that is what has changed in
terms of our receptivity to requests from our municipal partners for
special assistance. We are very limited this year, given our
circumstances. We're projecting close to a $25-billion deficit. We
are expecting that rates of economic growth will be modest this
year. We've got to put in place a plan to eliminate the deficit over
time. We've got to, at the same time, make sure that we continue to
find ways to invest in this new foundation for growth. That's what
our Throne Speech was all about."
The Bloc Québécois is lately complaining about
Ontario getting special attention from Ottawa and that Quebec
doesn't. Do you share the same feelings?
"I can't say that I share the same perspective. I can
say that we have found a fair amount of common ground in recent
years, working with the federal government, myself, with Prime
Minister Harper. We've made progress on a number of fronts. I was
pleased to learn that the federal Throne Speech they were going to
maintain the agreement for growth in transfer payments, the CST [the
Canada Social Transfer], and pleasantly surprised to learn that they
were going to extend it for one more year beyond their legal
obligation. What I would have liked to have seen, in addition to
that, was an investment in the green economy which we are building
here in Ontario. The federal government continues to make
investments in the West to help develop that traditional economy. I
don't begrudge them that one bit. But, what I was looking for was an
investment in clean or in water technologies and services."
So, how would you characterize the present
relationship between Ottawa and Queen's Park?
"I think that we're working. Here is my sense of
responsibility on this score: Ontarians don't really care about what
I think about the political stripe of the federal government of the
day. Their marching orders to me are pretty clear: work as hard as
you can, develop the best relationship that you can, and work in
their interests to make progress. And we have found some common
ground and we will find more ways, I'm convinced, going forward to
do that. One of the next things we'll be keeping our eye on, for
example, is if there is reform on Parliament Hill in terms of the
number of seats. Ontario is underrepresented. So we'd like to see
some movement in that area. The single national securities
regulator: that is something that we strongly support and we would
like to have that located here in Ontario and specifically in
Toronto because we are working hard to build up our financial
services sector."
What is the present status of the Fiat
commitment to bring Alfa Romeo to Ontario?
"Well, [Fiat Chief Executive] Mr. [Sergio] Marchionne
has indicated that he has more than a passing interest in the
production of the Alfa Romeo in North America and he has also said
that he is taking a close look at our opportunities here in Ontario.
We've got a flex plan operation, which taxpayers invested in quite
some time ago together with Chrysler which is readily available for
this kind of—in terms of capacity—for this kind of production. And I
must say that the Alfa Romeo brand is something that has been highly
regarded for decades. And as I try to build an open Ontario, open to
new ideas, new opportunities, new jobs, new people, new investments,
I think it would be a perfect fit for us to be able to become the
North American launching pad for this spectacular brand."
When do you expect some action?
"Well, I think that Mr. Marchionne indicated that he
was going to—I think it was in April. I don't know whether he is
going to make a specific decision at that point in time, but
certainly we'd like to see something then."
