Fairness campaign delivers real results

Premier McGuinty on Ontario's Fairness Campaign

March 26, 2007.

For more than two years, Minister Bountrogianni and I, along with our Cabinet colleagues, have been fighting for fairness for the people of Ontario. Our focus has been on highlighting unfair federal funding practices in the areas Ontarians value most. This includes federal funding to support our colleges, universities, hospitals and clinics, and funding to maintain the province’s roads, public transit and water systems. We have called on the federal government to provide the people of Ontario with their fair share of funding for these key services.

The Government of Ontario greatly appreciates the support our campaign has received from people across the province, and we want to thank all of you who spoke out in favour of fairness. We appreciate the collective efforts of business, labour, non-profit, public sector and municipal leaders who have supported our campaign. And we appreciate the support of individual Ontarians from across the province who learned about the issue, spoke out and sent letters to their federal MPs.

In the March 19 federal Budget, Ontario’s fairness campaign delivered real results for the people of Ontario. The federal government has committed to delivering transfers to provinces on a per capita basis, with immediate fairness in the Canada Social Transfer and many other federal transfers. This has been a key demand of our fairness campaign. These important steps toward fairness are real victories for the people of Ontario. They were made possible because we stood up for Ontario and because Ontarians across the province stood united behind our campaign.

However, some of our fairness concerns remain outstanding. Although the federal government has committed to treating Ontario fairly in the Canada Health Transfer, that fairness will not be introduced until 2014. This is too long to wait for our fair share of health care funding.

We have made real progress. The March 19 federal Budget represents an important step toward fairness. However, more needs to be done. I thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to stand by our fairness principles and continue to defend Ontario’s interests in the federation in a calm but firm manner. That is the only way to secure a strong and prosperous Ontario and a strong and prosperous Canada.

Sincerely,
Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario