OTTAWA - Ontario needs the Progressive Conservatives to clean up after a "reckless failed" Liberal government, Opposition Leader Tim Hudak said Saturday as he fired up the Tory troops for the 2011 election.
Hudak unleashed a blistering attack on Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals during his keynote address to delegates at the Conservatives' annual general meeting in Ottawa, with the theme 'Ontario can lead again.'
"Our economy may have fallen apart -- but our lawns are perfectly pesticide free," said Hudak. "Our factories may be closing -- but Ontario is protected from the menace of the plastic grocery bag."
Under the Liberals, Ontario has fallen into have-not status, said Hudak.
"Our unemployment rate is higher than the rest of Canada," he said. "Our taxes have climbed higher than the rest of Canada. Our services have deteriorated below the rest of Canada."
Ontarians turned to the Tories in 1995 after the disastrous NDP government led by Bob Rae, and they'll turn to the party again next year, predicted Hudak.
"It was our party that rescued the deal in the 1990s when previous reckless governments plunged Ontario into uncertainty, debt and fear," he said. "Now this province needs us again to clean up after another reckless failed government."
Hudak promised the Tories would rebuild the economy and create a better climate for investment to help boost employment levels.
"Instead of higher taxes on your paycheques and on everything you buy, we will cut taxes and create jobs," he said.
The Liberals say the Conservatives' rhetoric doesn't match their policy positions when it comes to corporate taxes, which the government has already pledged to cut along with eliminating the capital tax.
"The only way to meaningfully cut the tax rate on new business investment is to get rid of the provincial sales tax," said one Liberal source. "Lowering corporate tax rates has much less of an impact on the tax rate on new business investment than does transitioning the PST to the HST."
The Tories would suspend payroll taxes to help small businesses create jobs and eliminate the land transfer tax, said Hudak.
"The Liberals are raising taxes, let's not kid ourselves," he said. "The HST is a sales tax grab on ordinary, hard working families."
Liberal Party President Yasir Naqvi, an Ottawa MPP, dismissed Hudak's attacks on the governing party.
"There's a lot of rhetoric, but Tim Hudak and the Conservatives have not presented any plan besides a lot of catchy phrases," said Naqvi. "Ontarians won't respond to that."
Party strategists say the Conservatives will adopt a "no voter left behind" policy for the 2011 election, campaigning hard in all 107 ridings instead of targeting their efforts in strategic areas where they have a better chance of winning.
Recruiting good candidates is an obvious priority, but one key Tory strategist said he wouldn't be surprised if the party took out ads in newspapers looking for people to run in the October 2011 vote.
The Conservatives also unveiled new party logos at the convention in addition to a new website and what they claim is a first in Canada, an iPhone application for Hudak designed to attract more young voters.
A highlight of the day for many Conservatives was a tribute to veteran Bob Runciman, who resigned his Leeds-Grenville seat after being appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The newly-minted senator vowed not to forget his Ontario roots, and vowed to help the Tories defeat McGuinty and the Liberals in next year's election.
