March 20, 2007
Tory says McGuinty trying to pass the buck after his ‘pathetic’ compensation package
(Queen’s Park) – Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today said Dalton McGuinty is trying to pass the buck and deflect attention from his completely inadequate compensation package for Caledonia residents.
“I think it’s an embarrassment. I think it’s pathetic,” said Tory. “Caledonia residents have been punished by a complete lack of leadership by Dalton McGuinty. They have seen a complete disrespect for the rule of law and Dalton McGuinty’s compensation package is a slap in the face.”
In the Legislature today, Tory cited the many angry emails the PC Caucus has received about the compensation package. He told the story of Jack Dancey, a 91-year-old World War II veteran who has been trying to sell his Caledonia house for months and who believes he’ll be lucky to get $150,000 for a $250,000 house.
In response, Dalton McGuinty refused to commit to any more compensation to Caledonia residents than the $430,000 announced yesterday. Here are some of the ways Dalton McGuinty has spent money instead:
“The damage this conflict has caused is taking a toll on people in Caledonia both emotionally and financially,” said Tory. “It is a sad statement of Dalton McGuinty’s priorities that he can fund $5 million for a Hydro CEO who supposedly quit, but he can only fund $5.21 a day for long suffering residents of Caledonia. And to rub salt in their wounds, Dalton McGuinty won’t provide compensation for lost property values for the people caught in the middle of this dispute.”
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Legislative Assembly of Ontario
March 20, 2007
Mr. John Tory (Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the Premier. Yesterday the Dalton McGuinty government offered the grand total of $430,000 in compensation for Caledonia residents. In trying to deflect attention away from that completely inadequate offer, the Premier says the residents should call up or write to the federal government for more help. He’s suggesting that now. He’s suggesting that now because his own government didn’t bother to discuss it with Ottawa before they put out this meager offer to the residents.
Do you think this offer is adequate? And if you think that the federal government should be part of making an offer to the Caledonia residents, why didn’t you bother to ask them before you made this inadequate offer yesterday?
Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation): When it comes to interaction with the federal government on the subject of the community of Caledonia, I can advise that I have met with the Prime Minister on at least two occasions. I’ve also spoken with him over the telephone on another at least two separate occasions and we discussed at length some of the challenges that the community members there are having to grapple with.
What I think the members of the community of Caledonia would be interested in learning is, how many times has Mr. Tory picked up the phone, spoken with Prime Minister Harper, or how many times have members in his caucus picked up the phone or written letters? We’d be delighted to have copies of any correspondence that he might have sent to the Prime Minister or to the appropriate minister or to the member of the government who represents that particular riding. How many times have they acted in any way to intervene on behalf of the people of Caledonia with the federal government?
Mr. Tory: The fact is that it is a man by the name of Dalton McGuinty who is the Premier of Ontario who has the responsibility to act on behalf of people who live in this province. The fact is, in every one of those meetings and every one of those phone calls you, who now says the federal government should be part of your pathetic compensation offer, didn’t even bother to ask them to take part in this compensation.
Now, the reaction to the compensation has been swift and it has been negative and rightly so. In the e-mails we get, people say, “I don’t even believe this will come close to compensating the families most impacted.” Quote, “The compensation ... is nowhere near what we all deserve.” It’s $5.22 a day for the time these people have been affected while you’ve been doing nothing. It’s down to $5.21 today. By two weeks from now it will be down to $5 a day and by Canada Day, under the Dalton McGuinty style of leadership, it will still be going on and it will be $4.11 a day. Now do you think that kind of an offer of compensation for what these people have been through is adequate, yes or no? Is it adequate, $4.11 a day by Canada Day?
Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I know that the leader of the official opposition would not want to do an injustice to the issue itself, and he wouldn’t want to account for all of the other various areas of support which we have provided to the community, whether it’s in taking over the property in question, acquiring title to that land; whether it’s providing supports to the business community; whether it’s paying for signage or anything of that effect.
Again, the member opposite knows very well that this is the subject of a long-standing dispute between the Six Nations community and the government of Canada—the crown in the right of Canada. We stand in the middle. We are doing our very best to uphold public safety, to maintain law and order. Until the federal government comes to the table in a way that demonstrates their commitment to resolve this outstanding issue, this matter will continue. Again, I urge my friend opposite to get involved—
The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you. Final supplementary.
Mr. Tory: Dalton McGuinty is the one who was just telling us he’s had meetings with the Prime Minister. When it comes to one other thing you could have done, which is if you really feel they should participate in the compensation, you could have asked them and you didn’t do a thing.
Now, let’s look, when it comes to compensation, at some of the other arrangements you have been prepared to enter into. We’ve got Tom Parkinson, the former CEO of Hydro One, who quit under a cloud. He quit his job and you paid him $5 million to quit—$5 million. We’ve got Jane Stewart, who maybe very ably represented the province of Ontario but, mind you, you managed to pay her $330,000, almost as much as you’re paying all of the residents of Caledonia who have been through all kinds of anguish on this.
I ask you again, if you’ve got the money to spend on that and to pay lawyers to go and fight the parents of autistic children, why can’t you do better than five bucks a day for the people in Caledonia who, on your watch, have suffered?
Hon. Mr. McGuinty: It’s interesting to observe the vigour and the vitality put on display here when it comes to addressing me on these issues. But, if you were to speak to the Six Nations community, if you were to speak to the people of Caledonia, they would tell you that this is an outstanding dispute between the Six Nations community and the federal government.
I also want to advise the House that on December 21 the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing did in fact write to Ministers Prentice and Finley: “I strongly urge you to work with Ontario on a financial assistance package to local residents. I’m therefore asking that the federal government commit to matching Ontario’s offer of financial assistance and provide a representative to help support the Caledonia community committee.”
Again, I say to the leader of the Official Opposition, and I say this now on behalf of the people of Caledonia, when is he going to stand up for the people of Caledonia and make his case to the government of Canada?
The Speaker: New question? The Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Tory: My question is for the Premier, and the real question is when are you as the Premier of Ontario going to stand up for the people of Ontario, for the rule of law in Ontario, for the fact that there is one set of laws that applies to everybody in this province, and for the fact that these people here deserve better than what your government has done?
The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, in the letter sent of these people yesterday in Caledonia, says that the compensation is to cover, “only distress and the anxiety and pain and suffering that these families have gone through.” That’s a quote from the minister yesterday.
I would submit to you, and I know, that the residents of Caledonia would agree that $2,000 doesn’t come close to be adequate for pain and suffering. I don’t know how you would know, because you haven’t been there. When I spent a night there a few weeks ago, I listened to the parents telling me of taking their children to school past the barricades and the barbed wire. I had them telling me personally about not being able to use their backyards in the summer. I had a man tell me on the phone this morning about having to move his young son out of their family home because of fears for his safety because of your inaction.
What concerns me is there’s nothing here at all for lost property values. Why won’t you—
The Speaker: Thank you. Premier?
Hon. Mr. McGuinty: The leader of the official opposition, as part of a comfortable rant of his, accuses us on a regular basis of spending too much money. And yet yesterday he asked us to spend more money on health care. He asked us to spend more money on education. He asked us to spend more money on children affected by autism. And they’re now asking us to spend more money on Caledonia. He’s going to do all of this and yet he’s going to take $2.5 billion out of health care and he’s going to fund private schools in Ontario.
I think what Ontarians want is a reasonable, realistic and responsible approach to dealing with these kinds of issues. In particular, I am comfortable with the understanding that Ontarians expect that at some point in time Prime Minister Harper and the federal government are going to come to the table, assume their appropriate responsibility and address this issue in a responsible way. And that—
The Speaker: Thank you.
Mr. Tory: Let’s just have a look at how the Dalton McGuinty style of spending and compensation applies: $5.22 a day for people who have been hurt in Caledonia who suffered unbelievable emotional turmoil in their lives and those of their children; $5 million for a guy who quits his job, supposedly, at Hydro. That sums up your approach right there.
We’ve got Mr. Dancey, a 91-year-old World War II veteran, who’s been trying to sell his house for the last several months with no luck. He wants to move to North Bay to be close to his family. He believes he’s going to be lucky to get $150,000 for a quarter-of-a-million-dollar home. So he’s going to lose $100,000 on that.
I’ll ask you again, do you have any plans? Would you give any thought beyond your $5.22 a day to compensating these people for the loss in value of their homes that has happened on your watch and by your inaction?
Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I would remind the member opposite, the honourable leader of the official opposition, of the matter of Ipperwash. That happened some 12 years ago. That land remains occupied. There are no negotiations of any kind ongoing with respect to the reclamation of that land. That is the approach brought by that government to deal with these kinds of issues.
What have we done? We’ve acquired title to this land. We’ve set up a negotiating table. We’ve invited the federal government to be there on an ongoing basis. We’ve provided support where that was necessary. We’ve offered just recently more support for homeowners who are directly affected. And again I say on behalf of the people of Caledonia, when is the Conservative Party of Ontario going to stand up for that community and make their responsible claim to the government of Canada and ask for support to bring an end to this matter?
Mr. Tory: This business of standing up for the people of Caledonia: The people of Caledonia are going to find that very amusing coming from this Premier who has done nothing whatsoever to stand up for them—nothing. Of course today, on top of that, he offers $5.22 a day to these people and $5 million for the hydro CEO, $330,000 for his negotiator and millions for his lawyers to fight the parents of autistic children. We have an email from an individual who had his house appraised at $394,000 days before this occupation began. Now he’s being forced to accept a price tens of thousands of dollars less than that because of this occupation that you’ve allowed to go on.
This compensation package from your government does nothing for this person and your whole compensation package does nothing for the toll this has taken on people, on their lives and on their families. Why won’t you compensate these people for lost property values and why won’t you step up and do something proper and adequate for these people who have suffered so much in Caledonia? Why won’t you stand up for them for a change and stand up at the same time for the rule of law?
Hon. Mr. McGuinty: Again, Mr. Tory would, given the opportunity, specifically direct the police to pursue some kind of police action when it comes to the individuals who are occupying the land in question. If he would not do that, then he should just stand up and say that.
This is about a long-standing issue. It predates Confederation. It’s the matter of a dispute over certain lands between the Six Nations community and the government of Canada. This has gone on for quite some time now. It is a dispute in which the province of Ontario is caught up. Our responsibility, as I see it, is to uphold the peace and to maintain security in that community. Mr. Tory sees this quite differently. He would intervene specifically and provide specific directions to the police. We would not do that, and we will not do that. If the leader of the official opposition has a real concern and a real interest, then he will, for the first time, pick up the phone and talk to the Prime Minister of Canada and intervene on behalf of the people of Caledonia.