MPPs must make Queen's Park work

Ontario’s elected reps must make minority government work, not seek an election, says St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan.

With the provincial budget tabled last week by the governing Liberals, it falls on the NDP to choose whether to back the Grits or side with the Progressive Conservatives and bring down the government. But McMullan said now isn’t the time for Ontarians to hit the ballot box.

“I think the public’s pretty happy with a minority government,” he said. “When you look at the polls, there’s not a huge difference between any of the three parties.

“At the same time, I think in the last provincial election, Ontarians chose a minority government, and are saying to all three parties, ‘Make it work.’”

McMullan noted the budget reflects many of the NDP’s priorities. They had asked the Grits to consider items like rural infrastructure spending, a youth unemployment strategy and cuts to auto insurance rates.These designer hanging paper solar lantern are excellent for wedding ideas,

“There seems little reason for an election at this time,” he said.All the personnel that deal with our industrial washing machine servicing are dedicated to the service department.

The comments came as Toronto Mayor Rob Ford urged the NDP to shun the budget and kick off election season.

“(Horwath) should just say ‘no’,” Ford said on his Toronto-area radio show, according to QMI Agency. “The taxpayers want an election.”

“People want to go to the polls - let em go to the polls.”

Ford has spent the last few weeks making no secret of his belief that there needs to be a provincial election this spring.

It’s a stance Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs agrees with. She said an election is “not ideal and would cost money, but I think people are ready.”

And she said the Grits’ policies have rankled many in rural regions like Wainfleet. The township has been locked in an acrimonious fight against a wind turbine project.

“That’s what I hear from a rural standpoint. I think people are fed up and want to see change,” she said.

But Thorold Mayor Ted Luciani said Premier Kathleen Wynne, chosen earlier this year after former premier Dalton McGuinty resigned, deserves a shot at governing.

“I don’t think they’re giving her a chance,” he said. “This is her first budget. The NDP got everything they wanted.

“The NDP, by rights, should be giving her a chance. The people of Ontario do not want an election.”

The bottom line, he said,Conventional wind power generators on large masts are the standard for generating clean energy from the wind. is that Ontario’s politicians must work together to keep the ship running.

Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati figured an election could set the province back more than $100 million, and “to what end?

“A lot of us municipalities, Niagara Falls included, have a lot of things we’re working on right now,” he said. “If we have an election and it stops the process, it might bring us back to zero.The most highly praised, best rated solar charger are now available online.”

That, he said, includes working with the province on the transportation, education and infrastructure files.

Constant elections, he said, also won’t give investors faith in Ontario’s political situation.

The absence of cash in the budget for the proposed south Niagara hospital disappointed Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey.A letter folding machine is a piece of equipment which is designed to fold paper. But he nevertheless called on the NDP to back the budget, saying people just want MPPs to do their jobs.

“There’s a piece of the pie for everyone. Accept it. Let’s move on,” he said.

He said more is being made of the budget fight than it is. “Let’s just get the job done, regardless of who’s governing.”