ONTARIO GENERAL ELECTION    

 2007 

WINDSOR WEST

Sandra Pupatello - Liberal

Q. 1  Border - Infrastructure and the Environment

What short and/or long-term solution do you support to alleviate congestion of traffic approaching the Canada – U.S. Border? How will this plan alleviate environmental concerns arising from the increased congestion?

A:  The Ontario Liberal Party will implement the border solution plan that passes the environmental assessment.

We are awaiting a response from the City of Windsor to the recent DRIC recommendations. We want to work together with the city on a solution and we don’t want to pre-empt their opportunity to offer more feedback.

Keeping goods and services moving ensures our economy is poised for future growth.

Q. 2 Regional economic development and delivery of services

What is your plan for improving the region’s economic development given that we have the highest unemployment rate in the country? What is your plan for improving regional transportation connecting Essex County?

A: The recent downturn in the North American auto sector, combined with the high Canadian dollar, has had a major impact on families in our community.   The McGuinty government has invested an unprecedented $1.5 billion locally in health care, education, infrastructure, tourism and the auto sector.  We designed these investments to spur job growth, diversify our economy and enhance our quality of life. 

Some of these investments include:

• Investing $59 million to support Chrysler Canada's Windsor Assembly Plant;

• Investing $7.1 million to support Valiant Corp's $93 million investment in next generation automotive assembly systems;

• Investing $400 million to enhance Casino Windsor including a state-of-the-art convention centre and 5,000 seat theatre;

• Investing $40 million to build an Engineering Centre for Innovation at the University of Windsor;

• Investing $4 million to build a new 302,000-square foot complex that will include a 6,500 seat arena and three more community ice rinks;

• Investing $5 million to create the Centre for Construction, Innovation and Production at St. Clair College;

• Investing $22.2 million to build a new elementary school and a new secondary school in Tecumseh;

• Investing $11 million to build the greenest public school in all of Canada in east Windsor, to be named in honour of Dr. David Suzuki;

• Establishing the new Windsor Medical School which will help eliminate the doctor shortage and create jobs in the fast growing health sector;

• Investing over $84 million to improve and expand services in our hospitals, community care access centres, and long term care facilities.

With respect to expanding our regional transportation linkages, the Ontario Liberal government has made significant investments over the last four years.  Some of these investments include:

• Investing $175.4 million to expand Highway 401 between Tilbury and Windsor;

• Investing nearly $20 million to expand Manning Road from two lanes to five lanes;

• Providing the City of Windsor over $16.4 million for public transit.

Q. 3  Cost of energy and utilities

What is your plan to contain the expected increase in business costs for energy and utilities? Under your leadership what will the Province do to address this issue?

A:   Over the last four years, we have worked hard to build a stronger energy system that is cleaner, and greener, with prices that remain stable and competitive.  We do not believe in artificial price caps that pass the costs of the electricity we use today onto the pocketbooks of our children and grandchildren.

Electricity prices in Ontario remain very competitive, and are in fact lower that several competitor U.S. jurisdictions including New York, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania, among several others.  Wholesale power prices were 13 percent lower in 2006 than they were when the market opened in May 2002.  The average price for the May – December 2002 period was $52.00 per megawatt hour, while for 2006 the May – December average was $45.04.

To help Ontario families and businesses manage their costs, we’re creating a culture of conservation in every corner of Ontario by investing over $2 billion for conservation programs that are reducing our use of energy and saving money.  These programs are being delivered by the Ontario Power Authority, in cooperation with local electricity utilities.

For businesses that are interested in generating their own power, and selling the excess power to the grid, we’ve created the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) – the most innovative program of its kind in North America.  RESOP pays generators for energy that is added to the grid from renewable sources such as wind, hydro, solar, biomass or biogas.

Q. 4 Business taxes

What is your business taxation policy/plan? Are you going to hold the line, reduce or increase business taxes when in office and why?

A: We have a plan in place to remove the capital tax. To further enhance our

competitiveness, we have accelerated the elimination of capital tax to July 1, 2010 — 18 months earlier than originally scheduled under the capital tax elimination plan announced in the 2004 budget.

There are other ways to foster new investment, and we are pursuing them. We are also cutting high Business Education Tax rates, and providing a faster write-off for manufacturers. Our cuts to the capital tax since 2004 will have saved Ontario businesses $375 million by 2008.

We are also taking steps to reduce compliance costs for business, including the move to federal administration of Ontario corporate taxes. This move will save Ontario companies $100 million a year in compliance costs and another $90 million in lower corporate income taxes.

WINDSOR - TECUMSEH

Dwight Duncan, Ontario Liberal Candidate 

Q. 1 Border - Infrastructure and the Environment

What short and/or long-term solution do you support to alleviate congestion of traffic approaching the Canada – U.S. Border? How will this plan alleviate environmental concerns arising from the increased congestion?

A:  The Ontario Liberal Party will implement the border solution plan that passes the environmental assessment.

We are awaiting a response from the City of Windsor to the recent DRIC recommendations. We want to work together with the city on a solution and we don't want to pre-empt their opportunity to offer more feedback. 

Keeping goods and services moving ensures our economy is poised for future growth.

Q. 2  Regional economic development and delivery of services 

What is your plan for improving the region’s economic development given that we have the highest unemployment rate in the country? What is your plan for improving regional transportation connecting Essex County?

A: The recent downturn in the North American auto sector, combined with the high Canadian dollar, has had a major impact on families in our community.   The McGuinty government has invested an unprecedented $1.5 billion locally in health care, education, infrastructure, tourism and the auto sector.  We designed these investments to spur job growth, diversify our economy and enhance our quality of life. 

          Some of these investments include:

             ü      Investing $59 million to support Chrysler Canada's Windsor Assembly Plant; 

ü      Investing $7.1 million to support Valiant Corp's $93 million investment in next generation automotive assembly systems;

 A:  We have a plan in place to remove the capital tax. To further enhance our competitiveness, we have accelerated the elimination of capital tax to July 1, 2010 — 18 months earlier than originally scheduled under the capital tax elimination plan announced in the 2004 budget. 

There are other ways to foster new investment, and we are pursuing them. We are also cutting high Business Education Tax rates, and providing a faster write-off for manufacturers. Our cuts to the capital tax since 2004 will have saved Ontario businesses $375 million by 2008.

A: The Progressive Conservative Party will eliminate the job-killing capital tax – the highest in Canada – by 2010.  We will eliminate the regressive, unfair, so-called ‘health’ tax, beginning with those earning $30,000 annually as of January 1, 2008 .  We will furthermore work to ensure a stable, affordable supply of cleaner electricity for our businesses by not rejecting successful private sector electricity generation solutions such as Brighton Beach Power.   As an indirect measure, we will also put a 5% cap on annual residential municipal property tax assessment increases for as long as an individual owns his or her home–including property transfers to a spouse.  If MPAC does not implement all the changes recommended by the Ombudsman, a Progressive Conservative government would scrap the existing corporation and set up a new one.

Bruce Crozier - Liberal

Question 1:  Border (infrastructure and the environment)

What short and/or long-term solution do you support to alleviate congestion of traffic approaching the Canada-US border?  How will this plan alleviate environmental concerns arising from the increased congestion?

A: I will do what I said I will do from the beginning of this debate.  I will listen to communities in Essex County most directly affected by this crossing, primarily the Towns of LaSalle and Tecumseh, and the County of Essex.

The Towns of Tecumseh and LaSalle, as well as Warden Nelson Santos, have endorsed the parkway proposal as a workable solution.

I will endorse their position in support of the parkway alternative in light of the fact that it vastly improves the current situation in terms of an improvement to air quality, noise, traffic flow, and quality of life for all in the corridor.

I note that DRIC's research has concluded that there is no proven technology on earth to “scrub” emissions from tunnel exhaust.

We must move forward to build the second crossing by 2013 to ensure the safe and reliable movement of goods and people vital to our economic prosperity.

Question 2:  Regional economic development and delivery of services/regional transportation

What is your plan for improving the region's economic development given that we have the highest unemployment rate in the country?  What is your plan for improving regional transportation connecting Essex County?

A: To keep our economy growing, we have to invest in our strongest asset – our people.  That’s why Liberals are investing in our schools, in our colleges and universities, newcomers and children.  And we’re partnering with both workers and businesses to grow our economy.

You can't talk about economic development in Windsor-Essex without talking about the auto industry.  Our auto investments have leveraged $7 billion in new investments and created over 7,000 new jobs.  Ontario now has 350,000 more jobs than we did in 2003 – good, full-time, high-paying jobs. In fact, three quarters of the jobs created on our watch have been full-time and over 90% have been created in occupations that pay $19/hr or more.  We’re partnering to invest in our forest sector, and with our farmers.  And most importantly, we balanced the budget and passed a law to make sure no government could ever again hide a deficit.

We will be expanding our Next Generation Jobs fund to $1.15 billion to partner with specific sectors to make new investments that create jobs.  We will push the federal government to match our economic investment programs.

The auto industry is facing significant challenges worldwide. Our auto sector strategy delivered $7 billion in new investment and, for the first time since the car was invented, Ontario has surpassed Michigan as the continent’s leading auto producer, three years running.

And our economic strategy is about more than automobiles: it’s about investing in people, infrastructure and innovation. Here too we’re getting results that are moving Ontario forward. We have begun our $30 billion infrastructure plan to renew our roads, bridges, public transit, and community facilities, which are important to moving goods across Essex County, across the border, and around the world.

Here in Essex County, we’ve also seen over $20 million in provincial funding flow to our municipalities for local infrastructure projects.  We’ve also seen an investment of over $90 million dollars to widen highway 3 from 2 to 4 lanes to keep traffic moving, prepare for future population growth and boost this area’s economic advantage. I look forward to seeing this project through to its completion. 

Question 3:  Cost of energy and utilities

What is your plan to contain the expected increase in business costs for energy and utilities?  Under your leadership what will the province do to address this issue?

A: For the first time, Ontario has a 25-year plan for its energy future.  Planning ahead will allow us to respond to challenges in a measured and intelligent way, which is much more efficient and cost-effective in the long-run.  By planning 25 years in advance, we can avoid some of the costly energy imports we have been forced to rely on.

The independent Ontario Energy Board sets the price of energy for homes and small businesses under the Regulated Price Plan –  a responsible plan for electricity pricing that reflects the true cost of generating electricity. The RPP is designed to provide stable and predictable electricity prices for consumers, encourage conservation, create environmental benefits, and attract new sources of supply.

It should be noted that wholesale electricity prices in 2006 were the lowest on average since market opening (13% lower).

Bringing more megawatts online will relieve some of the pressure and reduce costs.  We have brought 3,000 megawatts of new power online while advancing projects that will generate more than 10,000 new megawatts.  This will benefit both businesses and homeowners.

We are also providing rebates and tax incentives for Ontarians to buy energy efficient appliances and make energy saving investments in their home, in order to reduce energy demand.  Our smart meter plan will also help people manage their energy costs, and provide incentive to reduce demand.

Question 4:  Business taxes

What is your business taxation policy/plan?  Are you going to hold the line, reduce or increase business taxes when in office and why?

A: The Ontario Liberal government recognizes the importance of business to our economy, and small business in particular.  We have reduced the amount of paperwork small businesses are required to complete by 24%.  This saves our local business time and money, allowing them to focus on what they do best – creating jobs and building prosperity in our community.

We also created a “one-stop shop” small business website, which centralizes all available government programs for businesses from tax credits to training and funding programs to help you either start your own business or help grow your business to the next level. 

As well, we are helping Ontario stay competitive by eliminating the capital tax and reducing provincial property taxes on business.  We are continuing to lower business property taxes as we phase out the capital tax completely by 2010. 

Richard Kniaziew - Progressive Conservative