Wynne says 'tough choices' remain as Ontario economy recovers
Premier notes that “work is changing dramatically for a lot of families.”

thestar.com
By Kristin Rushowy
Dec. 13, 2016

Ontario is creating more jobs than other provinces and attracting new businesses but the economic recovery “is still uneven” including in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton, says Premier Kathleen Wynne.

“Work is changing dramatically for a lot of families,” she told a business crowd of about 300 in a speech to the Canadian Club Tuesday morning. “Jobs are being lost, and new ones created, but there are gaps. We need to provide training and retraining opportunities, and find ways to support workers and new businesses. And we all need to engage on the together, because we cannot sustain an economic recovery that isn’t more broadly shared.”

Wynne also spoke of having to make “tough choices...that point to what I am finding to be my biggest challenge as premier” - and pointed to the issue of electricity prices, an issue opposition parties have continued to hammer her government about.

“Electricity prices are the prime example that I have been wrestling with lately,” she said. Improving the system in recent years has made it more environmentally friendly and reliable, but “the cost of the changes has put a burden on people in every corner of Ontario. People have told me that they have had to choose between paying their electricity bill and buying food or paying the rent. That is unacceptable to me. And I have committed to fixing it.”

She noted that starting in January, electricity bills will be cut by eight per cent - “that makes a difference” - and that the government is also providing help to those living in rural and northern parts of the province.

“But it is not enough,” she said. “So I have committed to finding more ways to lower rates and reduce the burden on households in the weeks and months ahead.”

In her speech, Wynne also mentioned some key initiatives by her government, including 100,000 more child-care spaces, free post-secondary tuition for students from low-income families, as well as an announcement last week that pledged jobs in the trades for unemployed residents who live near the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project in Toronto.

She also made a pitch to the business crowd to bring in high school co-op students to give them job experience, or to hire workers with disabilities.

“Let's ensure that no worker, no region, no family is left behind,” she said.