Tory shows differences from McGuinty

Toronto – Progressive Conservative leader John Tory is starting to look a little less like Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty’s twin brother and this could help him get back in the race in the next election.

Tory, as a moderate Conservative, has had difficulty since becoming leader coming up with policies that clearly differentiate him from the Liberals — at least until last October’s election, when he promised to fund private faith-based schools, which many dumped on as divisive and cost him any chance of winning.

Before that, Tory’s views were so close to McGuinty’s he voted for government legislation more than any opposition leader in memory, and their styles, low-key and placid, also were similar.

They had some policy differences. Tory for instance would cut wait times for doctors by allowing patients to use private clinics, provided they accepted provincial medicare payments and did not allow private patients to jump queues.

But the Conservative leader was open to the charge he did not offer a distinct alternative and recently acknowledged he has to develop policies that emphasize Conservative principles and clearly differentiate between him and the Liberals.

The Conservative leader has been given some momentum by opportunities presented by McGuinty. The premier has been slow to act after a propane explosion devastated a large area around a Toronto plant.

McGuinty has offered bromides such as "something didn’t work," while Tory said the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, through which private industry monitors such plants, was negligent and the province should be more involved.

McGuinty has been similarly casual about the current economic downturn that has cost many jobs, particularly in manufacturing. Tory says Ontario’s tax rates for business are not competitive with other jurisdictions and he would reduce them for companies that create jobs.

He says he would stop over-regulation that has led those trying to create jobs to feel government is an adversary, imposing endless inspections and ordering audits that require mountains of paper work.

Tory would remove the sales tax from hotel rooms and tourist attractions in summers to encourage travel and help the tourist industry, which is suffering badly from the economic slump and high gas prices.

He said this is a much better use of public money than the "feel-good ads you see on television."

The Conservative leader said he would halt a growth in the provincial civil service since the Liberals became government and number of public servants earning salaries of more than $100,000 a year, which grows rapidly every year.

Tory, still more novel, said he also would work with municipalities to make sure they restrain pay increases for their employees, which for some have been averaging close to three per cent a year.

"There has to be an attitude change," he said. "The public sector has to tighten its belt, because families who have to pay the bills are struggling."

Tory says he also would offer municipalities financial incentives to reduce their often notoriously high rates of absenteeism.

This could prove enormously attractive to voters, because the last time a party promised to restrain public service costs – the Conservatives in 1995 – it swept the province.

Tory said he would put stricter controls on appointing legal guardians of children after a seven-year-old was placed in the care of a woman with a criminal record for violence, who has been charged with her murder. Tory said transferring children should not be as easy as getting a liquor permit.

Tory said he also would hold an independent inquiry into the more than 200 deaths in the province caused by the infection C. difficile, which McGuinty has refused and could become a symbol of the many concerns residents have about health services.

Tory is still handicapped by not having a seat in the legislature since the October election and none of his MPPs has offered so far to give one up for him, and these policies still are not likely to send voters stampeding to the polls, but they are a start.

Eric Dowd is a veteran member of the Queen’s Park press gallery.