Today’s Speech from the Throne with its focus on creating the right environment in Ontario for investment, job creation and skills development, sets the right tone as Ontario prepares for the end of the global recession.
Not unlike the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s vision for Ontario as a Magnet for the World– which describes Ontario as a place with many values that attracts people from all over the globe including opportunity, abundance of educational resources, diversity and freedom to pursue their dreams — the Open Ontario plan rests on a foundation of Ontario’s inherent strengths.
Open Ontario acknowledges some work already underway including tax reforms and efforts to reduce red tape, both of which the OCC has lobbied for many years. In addition, it identifies new areas of opportunity including clean water technology, a focus on Northern Ontario, development of Aboriginal businesses, further strengthening of our financial services sector and expansion of our post-secondary education spaces.
In these and all other areas, the OCC encourages the government to set the right conditions for innovation and job creation, and then allow business to get to work and grow the economy.
Open Ontario also addresses the growing cost of healthcare which is now consuming 46% of the provincial budget.
In the OCC’s pre-budget submission, greater efficiency and accountability in healthcare spending was listed as a key priority:
“Government expenditures cannot be addressed without looking at the elephant in the room – healthcare. As you know, this is the single largest cost to government and growing at a significant pace. It simply cannot be excluded with regards to spending restraints or cost efficiencies.
We recommend that the government first conduct an actuarial analysis of healthcare expenditures – similar to what is done in regards to the Canada Pension Plan, for example. This would provide much needed predictability, transparency and accountability – and provide a window to long term planning.”
We would encourage the government to employ an actuarial analysis of healthcare costs with the same rigour and displine used by the Canada Pension Plan.
Overall the OCC is pleased with the ideas as presented in the Throne Speech but it remains to be seen how these goals will be turned into action in the weeks and months to come.
