QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario can afford the things we care about, if government learns to live within its means just like Ontario families do every day, PC Leader Tim Hudak said today.
“We must start by getting the unaffordable salaries and benefits paid to government union workers under control,” Hudak said. “Their gold-plated pensions are now so far out of step with private sector realities that many retire on more than the average Ontarian makes in a year.”
The PCs have put forward several bold ideas for getting a grip on unionized government worker pensions, Hudak noted – recognizing that many people can’t save for their retirement at all.
“These range from moving new government employees to retirement savings plans like those in the private sector, to phasing in a higher retirement age. All were rejected by the Liberals.”
That’s because the Liberals handed power to government worker unions like the so-called Working Families Coalition, Hudak said, adding that as Education Minister, Kathleen Wynne worsened the problem by driving up teachers’ salaries, compounding their pensions.
“With the ‘Boomer’ retirement wave, estimates put the shortfall between what the government has promised, and what’s available to pay for these benefits, at $100 billion,” Hudak added.
“Watch for the Liberals to hit up taxpayers for the difference, at the cost of money taken from classrooms and hospitals. That’s the painful bill that comes due when you live beyond your means.”
Ontario should provide great public services and reward the people who deliver them, Hudak concluded. “But we can’t do that on borrowed money. We’re the only Party committed to defusing this fiscal time-bomb.”
