Ontario Hansard Wed., October 3, 2001 Evening

Mr Peters: I won't be supporting this legislation, and I think we
need to be conscious of what this government has done with the
privatization of services in this province. This government
constantly stands up and praises the great things that they're
doing with the privatization of services, but who's the first to
sound the alarm bell when it comes to the privatization of
services? It's the Provincial Auditor. The auditor in his 1999
report showed that the privatization of highways had not saved
any money and may ultimately result in significant increases in
the cost of highway maintenance. What we're going to see out of
this privatization is higher costs and less service for the good
citizens of this province.

We've seen some of the other effects and where this government's
agenda is taking us when it comes to privatization. We're seeing
the direction that the government has gone with the jails. We've
seen where they're going with air ambulances. We've seen the
drastic effect on this province of the implementation of
privatization and what's happened in Walkerton.

1930

This government talks -- they're up touting the Blueprint and
promises made and everything else -- but let's cite some promises
made and promises not kept that have had a direct impact on the
citizens of this province. A promise made in 1995: no cuts to
agriculture. In July 1995, right after the election, $14 million
right out of the budget of agriculture. Boom, just like that.

On May 24, 1995, Mike Harris promises in writing, "We will
implement an Ontarians with disabilities act." Well, we're still
waiting. The clock is ticking.