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...Back at it

Friday, 23 May 2014 15:15

(Right to Left) PC candidate Ernie Hardeman sits with Liberal Dan Moulton, the NDP's Bryan Smith and the Green Party's Mike Farlow.

Another all candidates meeting Friday allowed participants to ask some off the cuff questions.

WOODSTOCK -- The all candidates meeting Friday put on by the Oxford Chambers of Commerce took an improvised turn, allowing each candidate to ask another an off-the-cuff question of their choosing.

Green Party candidate Mike Farlow asked what PC candidate Ernie Hardeman would he do in a leadership role to stop the proposed Walker Landfill from coming to Oxford.

Hardeman without pause said he's spoken to the issue a number of times in the legislature and will continue to do so if he's re-elected.

"I will do whatever I can to make sure the message gets there that we don't want the dump and I think that through the minister, I have the ability to go across the aisle and talk to the minister -- which I have already done a number of times -- to make sure the voice of Oxford is being heard."

Answering the same question, NDP Candidate Bryan Smith says he'd wear out another pair of shoes, saying he's worn out a lot chasing down people to talk about stopping the proposed landfill.

Liberal Candidate Dan Moulton says Ontario needs to look at better technologies and innovative solutions to better address our waste and have a discussion to answer if our waste should be crossing county lines at all.

Hardeman later found himself on the defensive from Moulton and other candidates regarding Tim Hudak's "Million Jobs Plan," which also includes cutting government jobs back to 2009 levels -- from 1.1-million public employees back to 1-million. Hardeman described how cuts won't be coming to front line services, but rather by attrition to many jobs which may become vacant by retirement or by eliminating agencies like the Ontario Power Authority or provincial health LIHN's.

Smith says if you do the math, the Hudak Plan involving 100,000 public job cuts means 934 jobs lost in Oxford County if you divide fairly across the province. He says the NDP would suggest if that you want savings, you don't have to do it with job cuts, but rather start where you can save the most.

"And those might be from the four provincial agencies that are regulating hydro and causing our hydro prices to be so high. So those CEO salaries that I suspect are above some of yours, and are certainly above what I've ever earned -- that are in the half-a-million to a million rank -- some of those might disappear."

Green Party Candidate Mike Farlow says the Hudak plan leaves him with one big concern.

"When these cuts come, or whoever is doing the cuts, that they have a way to guarantee that it's not going to hit front line services, because every time it's been done before, that's how it worked out.," Farlow said.

Addressing his question to Dan Moulton, Hardeman revisited the provincial budget, saying the Liberals would have a $12.5-billion deficit this year, but still hope to balance the budget by fiscal 2017-2018. Hardeman asked where the money would come from to balance the budget.

Moulton replied saying the Liberals have been clear about their fiscal plan from the beginning.

"We would not sacrifice Ontario's economy and our public services and cut 100,000 jobs to meet a deficit reduction target. So you do see a modest increase in the deficit this coming year, and the reason for that is because our economy is still fragile, and we're not going to do a shock treatment to that economy when it's going to put people out of work."

The NDP's Bryan Smith says his party's platform has already been fully costed and will produce a quarter billion dollars of new revenue and savings in the first year.

Green Party candidate Mike Farlow was honest in his assessment, saying no one has an answer to reverse the provincial deficit, including him.