Ontario won't scrap all-day kindergarten despite Drummond report: Duncan

By: Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Asset sales and privatization are on the table as Ontario looks to balance its books, but scrapping full-day kindergarten is not, the finance minister said Monday.

The province will sell the LCBO's headquarters property on prime Toronto real estate near the waterfront, a move expected to generate $200 million, Dwight Duncan said in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada.

A long-awaited report from former TD Bank economist Don Drummond on Wednesday is expected to recommend harsh service cuts to eliminate Ontario's deficit.

The Conference Board of Canada estimated last week that it could rise to $16 billion in 2017-18. But Duncan said the report will suggest it could reach $30 billion by then if steps aren't taken.

The Liberal government will continue to slow down the rate of growth in government spending — they committed in the last budget to capping it at 1.4 per cent each year for the next six years — but Drummond will recommend holding spending growth at one per cent.

"In the budget process the government may raise education or health more than that and some others less than that," Duncan said after the speech.

But cuts are coming, Duncan warned, and he stood by the government's timeline of eliminating the deficit by 2017-18.

"The more we are able to transform the way we deliver public services, the less we will have to cut, and that means we will be better able to protect schools and health care," he said.

Duncan said the Drummond report will recommend axing full-day kindergarten, a cornerstone of Dalton McGuinty's agenda as the self-described education premier.

But that's not on the table, Duncan said.

The report will contain 362 recommendations, and the Liberal government does not agree with all of them, but they will work with opposition parties to strike the right balance, he said.

The government will "seriously" consider freezing the corporate tax rate, as per a suggestion from the NDP, who backed off from a proposal to raise it, Duncan said.

Progressive Conservative finance critic Peter Shurman said he doesn't doubt the Liberals will follow through with a corporate tax rate freeze, as a way to get the NDP to support the minority government's next budget.

He also slammed the government for not campaigning on any of the new plans last fall.

"This government essentially misled Ontarians in the election in October," he said. "They talked about stability and what they've done is destabilize."

In addition to the sale of the LCBO headquarters property, ServiceOntario will have more private sector involvement. It is five times more costly for an Ontario resident to access those services in person versus online, so the government is eyeing savings by driving people to the ServiceOntario website, Duncan said.

But doing so requires a "significant capital investment," for which the province will look to the private sector.

Privatization of ServiceOntario makes no sense, said NDP Finance critic Michael Prue, who said the agency turns hundreds of millions of dollars in profit.

"It'll be worse service because of things like auditing," he said. "They're not going to pay for things that won't make them money, so you're not going to have things like special audits to make sure it's done right."

Duncan also said he will look at cutting the $345 million in subsidies given to horse racing in Ontario each year through the OLG.

That amount is more than 10 times the amount that British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba combined provide to horse racing, and that money could pay for more than nine million hours of home care, Duncan said.

"We are reviewing every program, every asset and every function of government," he said.

"We are considering if government should be in a specific line of business or service delivery."

Prue said ending the subsidy would be "the death knell of horse racing in Ontario."

It is a major industry in Ontario. It employs a lot of people...If you're going to get rid of it then it needs to be staged so that at least some part of that racing industry survives in Ontario."

Province should go ahead with Toronto subway, Hudak says

ANTONELLA ARTUSO AND JONATHAN JENKINS, Queen’s Park Bureau, QMI Agency

TORONTO - The provincial government should ignore Toronto council and plough ahead with an underground subway, PC Leader Tim Hudak says.

“I am very disappointed in the vote at the city last night which ran against the notion of putting the next wave of transit underground,” Hudak said Thursday. “If we actually want Toronto to be a world-class city, if we want Toronto and Ontario to be world leaders, we should build transit underground.

“It’s best for transit riders — it’s what they prefer — and it also means we’re not ripping up existing roads which makes gridlock even worse.”

PC MPP Peter Shurman accused some members of Toronto city council of putting their own “fiefdoms” ahead of the transit interests of the whole GTA.

“It is politics that has gotten in the way of building subways over all of these years in the Greater Toronto Area,” he said. “We have to put on a larger regional hat.”

Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli and Metrolink president and CEO Bruce McCuaig have scheduled a media conference later Thursday to respond to Toronto council’s decision to abandon Mayor Rob Ford’s underground plan and proceed with a surface light-rail transit system.

Hudak noted that the $8.4 billion to be spent on transit is coming from the Ontario treasury, not city council.

Metrolinx, which is building the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown LRT, should be making strategic decisions that benefit the whole region, he said.

“Metrolinx is not a lending agency just to hand over the money,” Hudak said.

“Their role, as far as I’m concerned, is to move forward with underground and work with the mayor and city to do so.”

Queen's Park could strike back at Caterpillar


By Jonathan Jenkins, Queen's Park Bureau, QMI Agency

TORONTO - Ontario is searching for ways to hit corporate Casanova Caterpillar where it hurts over its love’em and leave’em ways, Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid said Tuesday.

“We’re happy to consider any of those types of ideas,” Duguid said of possible retaliatory measures, after the multinational abruptly closed a London, Ont., locomotive factory and fired 460 workers.

“I’ve asked my ministry to take a look at are there any other tools available to us in these circumstances?”

One of the company’s subsidiaries — Caterpillar Tunneling Canada Corp. — has a $54-million contract with provincial agency Metrolinx to build tunnel boring machines for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, but Duguid said Ontario wouldn’t be rushing into any response.

“It’s too early to tell if there’s any opportunities to shift contracts that may already be in place,” he said.

He also repeated Premier Dalton McGuinty’s call for the federal government to toughen the Investment Canada Act, to prevent foreign companies from snapping up Canadian industrial know-how and shipping it elsewhere.

Ontario — like most of the world’s richest economies — has been bleeding manufacturing jobs to lower-wage jurisdictions for years.

But the loss of the Electro-Motive Diesel plant in London is particularly painful for the province. Workers pulled down up to $34 an hour and were some of the most productive in North America.

Now, that leading-edge locomotive assembly will be done in Indiana by workers earning half as much.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan was also critical of Caterpillar’s pullout but said the issue wouldn’t affect his thinking on whether to continue with scheduled corporate tax cuts in the upcoming budget.

Progressive Conservative finance critic Peter Shurman said there’s no doubt in his mind why Caterpillar left.

“If you listen to Mr. McGuinty’s version, it has to do with Canadian law on foreign investment,” Shurman said.

“As far as our party is concerned it has to do with conditions in Ontario. There’s plenty of blame to go around in the issue of 465 workers losing their jobs at a time when nobody can afford to lose jobs.”

Shurman said the Tories would have encouraged the company to stay by addressing energy costs and the amount of red tape faced by corporations.

Ontario Place to shut down water park, amusement rides
Robert Benzie Queen's Park Bureau Chief, Toronto Star

The Liberals are placing the long-term future of Ontario Place in the hands of former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory.

But in the short term, major parts of the money-losing waterfront park will be closed as the province struggles with a $16-billion budget deficit and is facing service cuts.

The water park and amusement rides will be shut down as they require $20 million in upgrades. The Cinesphere, home of the IMAX theatre, will also be closed.

But Atlantis, the Molson Amphitheatre and the marina will remain open.

As first disclosed by the Star, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and Tourism Minister Michael Chan have turned to Tory to spearhead a drive to revamp the 41-year-old shoreline white elephant.

“John will lead a panel to engage Ontarians and advise the government on revitalization of Ontario Place,” a senior official said Wednesday.

“It's really about community engagement as we want Ontario Place to be totally renewed by 2017,” the source said.

“Attendance has fallen off and it's losing money. We think families deserve better.”

Underutilized for decades, the 39-hectare (96-acre) park now attracts about 1-million visitors a year, down from its heyday in the early 1970s when annual crowds of 2.5 million made it a waterfront institution.

The Liberals hope Tory, who was PC leader from 2004 until 2009 and was runner-up to David Miller in the 2003 Toronto mayoral contest, will bring some much-needed action to the facility.

He should also be able to break the traditional logjam with city hall, which owns and operates the adjacent Exhibition Place site.

Sources say Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who respects Tory, will be willing to work with him on any integration plans.

If Ontario Place and Exhibition Place are eventually brought together under one umbrella, that could increase the value of both assets and ease redevelopment.

While a casino at Ontario Place is not in the cards — despite published rumours — gaming could come to Exhibition Place, which has more parking and better transit access.

But gambling is not part of Tory's mandate.

Appointing such a prominent Conservative — who hosts a popular afternoon radio show on Newstalk 1010 and was recently awarded the Order of Ontario for his community work, including with CivicAction — is a deft move by the Grits.

It makes it hard for his successor PC Leader Tim Hudak to attack any redevelopment plans.

As well, because Ontario Place was a pet project of Tory's friend and mentor, popular former PC premier Bill Davis, who governed from 1971 to 1985, any criticism from that quarter would be muted.

Tory MPP Peter Shurman hailed the appointment.

“John Tory is a good guy who wears a Toronto and an Ontario hat first and foremost before a partisan hat,” said Shurman (Thornhill).

“I wish him well. I always think it’s a great move turning to a Conservative. John will bring … professionalism to that task and, hopefully through the course of time, we’ll see an Ontario Place we can all be proud of,” he said

Liberals to close parts of Ontario Place to save cash
The Canadian Press        
    
TORONTO — The iconic giant white ball beside Lake Ontario that houses the Ontario Place Cinesphere will be destroyed and the 39-hectare park shut down for five years for a redevelopment the government hopes will bring tourists back in droves.

The cash-strapped province, facing a $16-billion deficit, can't afford to keep Ontario Place open when attendance has fallen from 2.5 million when it opened in 1971 to about 300,000, said Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.

"It's fallen into disrepair and we just don't want to continue to put in $20 million a year when there's declining use," he said.

"This is about a sustainable Ontario Place that not only will improve but it will be financially sustainable. To simply continue to increase funding while attendance goes down is not."

The water park, amusement rides and the Cinesphere will be torn down while the park is closed until 2017 so a panel led by former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory looks at ways to make Ontario Place a "must-visit" destination again for tourists.

The panel will report back to government this spring and hopes to start the process for redevelopment work by the summer. There are no conditions on what the panel can consider, and there have already been lots of ideas put forward to rebuild Ontario Place, said Tory.

"There's been I think 11 studies and that's probably about nine more than there needed to be, and now it's time to act and get on with doing something," he said.

"I want it to be excellent, a people place, something that will help to create jobs and enrich the cultural and social fabric of Toronto and takes advantage of what is a jewel of a location."

Reporters laughed aloud when Tourism Minister Michael Chan said one of the four areas to remain open at Ontario Place would be the parking lots.

The only other things to stay open will be the amphitheatre where concerts are held, the Atlantis pavilion and the marina.

No decision has been made on whether or not to put a new casino at Ontario Place as part of the revitalization project, but the panel can consider the idea, said Duncan.

"The government has not considered additional casinos," he said.

"It is at best premature to suggest any decisions have been made in that regard."

The province will look to the private sector to fund the redevelopment of Ontario Place, added Duncan.

"What we don't know is what the final configuration is, but what's important is that we also leverage private capital in the redevelopment of this site," he said.

The New Democrats said they fear that could mean more waterfront condominiums will be built on what Duncan called some of the most expensive land in North America.

"There's an eventual privatization we see coming out of this. Who knows what it's going to look like at the end," said NDP critic Gilles Bisson.

"There's probably more questions being raised than have been answered in this press conference, and I think time will tell exactly what's going to happen."

The Progressive Conservatives called it a good idea to revitalize Ontario Place, but said the government should make sure the park remains affordable after it is rebuilt and reopened.

"Ontario Place needs a face lift and probably more," said Tory Peter Shurman.

"Let's give people something they really value and let's give it to them at a reasonable price."

About 50 full-time workers will lose their jobs, and 600 summer jobs will also disappear, as the waterfront park owned by the province is closed, overhauled and rebuilt.

Admission to Ontario Place was free last year for the park's 40th anniversary, which helped increase admissions to 563,000.

McGuinty can’t walk the fine finance line forever: OUR OPINION
By Bob Bruton - Barrie Examiner


Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is walking a fine line between saying and doing to address the provincial deficit.

Speaking to a business audience at Toronto’s Canadian Club this week, McGuinty spoke of doctors, nurses, teachers and about a million Ontario public sector workers who will need to hold their salary demands in check this year to cut into this province’s $16-billion deficit.

But the premier has rejected a legislated pay freeze, noting goodwill and respect built up with unions at the negotiating table in past years should translate to the collective bargaining process.

One reason McGuinty has rejected a pay freeze law, of course, is because the Conservatives are insisting on one.

And Tory boss Tim Hudak has a point.

In 2009, the Liberals tried for a voluntary public sector wage freeze. Most unions, however, continued to negotiate salary increases; this lead to some workers getting pay hikes, while managers and non-unionized employees doing the same work didn’t get a raise.

And it should be remembered that the job of unions is to get the best deal possible — in terms of salary, benefits and working conditions — during the collective bargaining process. The union leaders work for their members, whether they be nurses, teachers or other public employees.

In the same breath, McGuinty knows the importance of getting a handle on the salaries of Ontario workers. He told the Canadian Club that half of his government’s annual spending, or about $55 billion, goes to wages and salaries.

And that provincial spending cannot be reduced without taking action on salary expenditures.

But the decision on what action to take is no longer the Liberals’ alone.

Ontario voters elected a minority government last fall, although the Grits fell just one seat short of a third straight majority.

Which means that McGuinty and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan will need some help passing their next budget, expected in March.

Tory finance critic Peter Shurman has already said his party won’t be giving up on its demand that the budget include a legislated public sector wage freeze.

The New Democrats, who could therefore hold the balance of power, are holding their cards close on this subject. As the unofficial party of working people and labour, it would be difficult to see the NDP support a wage freeze law.

And McGuinty has more than just public salaries to worry about in his next budget.

While no specifics have been released, the Liberals want to cap increased health-care spending at 3% annually, or less than half the amount in each of the previous eight years. Duncan also wants to hold his government’s overall spending to just 1% more during the next fiscal year.

So what gets cut?

NDP leader Andrea Horwath has advocated reducing planned business tax breaks, as a means of creating more government revenue and not having to take the knife to provincial services or expenditures.

Perhaps that is what will be needed for the Liberals to get NDP support for the next Ontario budget.

Right now, it appears any deal with the Tories is a non-starter.

McGuinty has said, quite correctly, that there’s no easy way out of the fiscal dilemma Ontario is in — because even another year of this deficit level is unacceptable.

The question is how he brings the deficit down, and what type of deal the premier has to make to get it there.

McGuinty must restrain himself

Editorial, QMI Agency
Premier Dalton McGuinty announced plans to restrain his government’s spending last week.

This to address Ontario’s $16 billion deficit and threatened credit downgrade.

McGuinty suggested the answer lies in things like health care “reform.”

That typically means delisting and defunding more medical services, but we’ll see.

Considering McGuinty has been in power since 2003, we thought Tory MPP Peter Shurman summed up McGuinty’s speech on fiscal restraint to the Canadian Club rather well.

He described it as, “the words of a man who for the last eight-plus years has held the shovel while digging Ontario into the biggest hole it’s ever been in, (who) suddenly has found religion where the deficit is concerned.”

Because we strive to be helpful at the Sun, here are some ideas for how McGuinty could have saved money in the past, which might provide helpful guidance for the future.

(1) McGuinty decided in 2010 to contribute $5 million — $500,000 annually for 10 years — to a federally-funded human rights museum in Winnipeg. Since Winnipeg is in Manitoba, not Ontario, we suggest our geographically-challenged premier end our contribution at $1 million ($500,000 for each of 2010 and 2011) for a tidy saving of $4 million.

(2) We urge McGuinty, in future, to avoid spending $1 billion NOT to create a workable eHealth system of electronic medical records for all Ontarians. After all, McGuinty could have spent zero dollars NOT creating such a system, thus saving taxpayers $1 billion.

(3) McGuinty could have saved another $1 billion, approximately, by not cancelling two natural gas plants to save the political hides of two Liberal MPPs leading up to the 2011 election. In fairness, McGuinty has said one of the plants will be moved. We invite readers to treat this claim with all the seriousness it deserves.

(4) In future, we urge McGuinty not to force Ontarians to pay, through higher electricity rates, up to $250 million annually to green energy companies not to produce electricity. Someone in government should tell the premier you can actually pay zero dollars for zero electricity.

(5) The next time McGuinty asks the Ontario public service to accept a wage freeze, he might want to do more than ask, by passing a law imposing a freeze, since the public sector unions ignored his request for a voluntary freeze. Unfortunately, there will be no saving from a legislated freeze going forward because McGuinty has already rejected the idea.

(6) Don’t impose programs we can’t afford like all-day kindergarten (cost $1.5 billion annually, plus $1 billion for renovations), given that while it would be nice to have everything we want, when we’re massively in debt we have to avoid buying things we can’t afford.

We hope these ideas will help McGuinty stop running out of our money in future.

Sadly, given his record, we doubt they will

McGuinty hints at cuts to public service
in drive to eliminate $16B deficit
by Emily Senger, iPolitics Staff With files from the Canadian Press

TORONTO – Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty re-committed to balancing the budget by the 2017-18 fiscal year in a speech Tuesday, barely hinting at cuts to come as the province tries to get its $16-billion deficit under control.

In a speech to the Canadian Club, McGuinty didn’t give specifics, but hinted at slower spending after the Drummond Commission, lead by former bank economist Don Drummond, delivers its final report on reform of Ontario’s public service in the coming weeks.

Now that Ontario has weathered the worst of the global economic downturn, the province needs to focus its attention to the deficit in order to improve consumer and international confidence in the economy, the premier said.

“Now that the storm is over, it’s right to rededicate ourselves to our plan to eliminate that deficit,” McGuinty said.

While promising not to raise taxes and to protect health care and education — part of his 2011 re-election promises — McGuinty said there are “opportunities for reform” in the health-care sector, which currently makes up 40 per cent of provincial program spending.

Heath Minister Deb Matthews will introduce a plan for health-care transformation, he said.

Salary expenditures were another area where McGuinty said there could be savings.

While Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak suggested Monday that the government should consider privatizing services in order to cut costs, McGuinty promised to respect the collective bargaining process, but also “negotiate firmly.”

Speaking to reporters later, McGuinty took the prospect of a public-sector wage freeze off the table, something the PCs are pushing for.

“The wage freeze has been rejected by Don Drummond, it’s been rejected by the government in Ottawa, it’s been rejected by the government here in Toronto,” McGuinty said. “There is a determination here to ensure that you get expenditures under control, but to do that by bargaining fairly, but firmly, through the collective bargaining process. That’s what we intend to do.”

McGuinty, who rebuilt public services after deep cuts under former premier Mike Harris’ PC government, said that he hopes the respect he has built with the public service will aid his government in bargaining.

The premier also rejected the idea that the government will look for significant new revenue sources — a downtown Toronto casino and higher alcohol prices have both been suggested — rather than making cuts.

The speech, and McGuinty’s repeated assurance that “it’s not going to be easy,” but “we’re all in this together,” didn’t cut it for Toronto PC MPP Peter Shurman.

“These are the words of a man who, for the last eight-plus years, has held the shovel while digging Ontario into the biggest hole it’s ever been in and is now saying ‘we all have to work together to get out of it’ and, suddenly, has found religion where the deficit is concerned,” Shurman charged.

He also questioned whether the Liberals would be able to bring the deficit under control without significantly affecting services.

“I am very concerned about the prospect of having him at the helm when it comes to attacking a deficit and, certainly, in the way that he is talking about, which is really without any terrible inconvenience to anybody,” Shurman said.

On the question of public-sector wages, the PCs haven’t ruled out a wage freeze, even if the Liberals have.

“As far as we’re concerned, a wage freeze is not off the table, a wage freeze is essential when it comes to dealing with the public service,” Shurman said.

Shurman said collective agreements are under negotiation and suggested that part of that negotiation can, and should, include a zero increase and a wage freeze.

He wouldn’t speculate on whether the PC party will vote against the budget, the date of which has not been set.

For the NDP, a main concern was the lack of specifics on the looming changes to the health-care system.

“When this government starts to say we’re going to transform the health care system, I think we all have to be pretty nervous,” said NDP leader Andrea Horwath.

“The other thing that’s possible is ‘transformation’ is just a code word for more cuts.”

Ontario will reduce medicare services to save money

The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Caesarean sections could be one of the services delisted from medicare by the Ontario government as it looks to cut costs and trim a $16-billion deficit, Health Minister Deb Matthews suggested Wednesday.

The government is reviewing all health services to see if evidence shows they improve patient outcomes, and if not, they could be delisted from OHIP, Matthews told reporters.

"We need to really be rigorous in our determination to fund services that have an evidence-basis and not fund those that don't," she said.

The government is also looking at how often medical procedures are performed in Ontario compared with other jurisdictions, and found Ontario doctors perform far more C-sections than their colleagues.

"There's pretty interesting research that demonstrates geographic differences in incidences of caesarean sections for example," said Matthews.

"So what that tells me is we've got some work to do to make sure that everyone is practising the highest quality medicine."

Health care accounts for almost 44 per cent of government program spending, and Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday the sector is "overflowing with opportunities for reform."

However, McGuinty declined to offer details Wednesday on how much the government thinks it can save in health care, and said Matthews would have more to say about the government's plans next week.

"I'll be laying out several initiatives that will both improve patient care and will address the fiscal reality that we have," Matthews said as she too declined to talk about specifics.

The province saved $66 million by eliminating coverage for vitamin D testing, which evidence showed was not improving patient outcomes.

"So do we need to continue and indeed accelerate those evidence-based changes? Absolutely," said Matthews.

"But at the same time we need to fund things that do improve outcomes, so that's why we brought in new childhood vaccines, for example."

The government "will have the courage to act on the evidence" as it decides which services to pay for and which to no longer cover, she added.

"Sometimes that will mean delisting. Sometimes that will mean doing things we aren't already doing," said Matthews.

"So it cuts both ways."

The Opposition questioned what they see as McGuinty's new commitment to save money with his health-care reforms after the Liberals doubled provincial spending in the past eight years.

"Dalton McGuinty has to stop being the arsonist that sets the fires and puts himself on a fire truck so he can come and be the white knight that puts it out," said Progressive Conservative finance critic Peter Shurman.

"And that's the situation we've got in Ontario now."

The New Democrats said the Liberals have a history of delisting health services and fear more substantial services will no longer be covered.

"Of course we're worried about this because it's part of an agenda this government started eight years ago when they delisted chiropractors and physiotherapists and optometrists," said NDP finance critic Michael Prue.

"If it is confined to some narrow thing like tests that are no longer necessary fine, but she's talking in much broader terms than that and that's what causes me concerns."

One thing McGuinty said the government does want to look at is new medical technologies, which tend to be very expensive and often help doctors perform more efficiently, but never result in lower costs.

"In every other sector, when you invest in technology you reduce your costs and you pull those savings out of the system," said McGuinty.

"We have yet to effectively do that in health care here in Ontario."

Premier warns of public service sacrifices
 
No 'magic' cure for budget woes
 
By Chris Thompson, The Windsor Star
 

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Premier Dalton McGuinty sounded a warning Thursday that everyone who is paid with taxpayers' dollars can expect to have to make some sacrifices to balance the province's books.

That means teachers, doctors, nurses, provincial employees and, by extension, parents of school-aged children can expect to have to make concessions to help tackle Ontario's $16-billion deficit.

Retired TD Bank economist Don Drummond has been hired by the province at $1,500 a day to find areas where government services can be streamlined. His report is to be released later this month.

Speaking at an event to announce tuition rebates at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo Thursday morning, McGuinty said the time for cost-cutting has come.

"These are serious times," McGuinty said. "Something that we anticipated ... that's why we commissioned Don Drummond at the time of the last budget to provide us with his very best advice. Our platform was a reflection of the serious times; the lowest cost by far."

McGuinty said the Liberal party platform in the October election was less than the cost of those of the NDP and Progressive Conservatives.

"I think it was one-third the cost of the other platforms," McGuinty said.

"It had the fewest commitments. Mr. Drummond will provide us with some several hundred recommendations. We look forward to receiving those."

But in the end McGuinty said the decision of where to cut will come down to the legislature.

"His (Drummond's) responsibility, of course, is to advise and ours is to decide," said McGuinty .

"So there's a distinction, first of all, to be drawn between his responsibility and our responsibility in government. After we have received those recommendations, we will ask the legislature to help us by giving us the best advice on those. We'd like to get that into a committee. We also want to give Ontarians an opportunity to comment on that as well."

Finance Minister and Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Dwight Duncan is unavailable for comment this week and next, his Queen's Park office said.

A spokesman for Windsor West MPP Teresa Piruzza said details of Drummond's plans had not been filtered out to caucus and declined to comment.

A request for comment from the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union was not returned.

Tory finance critic Peter Shurman, MPP for Thornhill, said the Liberals are now forced to clean up the fiscal mess they have made and some media characterizations of Duncan as a "fiscal hawk" are out of line.

"If Dwight Duncan is a fiscal hawk then I'm Smokey the Bear," said Shurman.

Shurman said what the McGuinty government is asking Drummond to do is what the Tories have been urging for years.

"We hope Mr. Drummond has better luck making this case to the government than we have," said Shurman.

But when asked if the cuts would be on the scale of those of the Mike Harris government in the 1990s, McGuinty said no.

"What I can assure Ontarians is that their values will be our government's values," said McGuinty .

"We will do everything we can to protect our health care, protect our education, and put in place the kinds of measures that continue to support a stronger and growing economy. Those are the kinds of things that remain our focus."

McGuinty said everyone in the province is going to have to accept a share of dealing with the deficit.

"We're all going to have a role to play," said McGuinty .

"If we're going to be as effective as we need to be in terms of strengthening this economy and ensuring that we're getting ever more value for the public dollars that are being invested in our public institutions - whether that's education at whatever level or in health care or other kinds of public services that we are delivering - then we're all going to bring something to the table. I think Ontarians understand that these are serious times. I think they understand that there is no magic. We can't wish our way out of this. We can't sit on our hands and hope that, you know, global economics turns around and somehow begins to act as some kind of an advantage for us."