Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Ontario 28e 4e Discours du Trône 30 mars 1971 William Ross MacDonald Lieutenant Governor Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario Mr. Speaker, and members of the legislative assembly of Ontario, I extend warmest greetings and a sincere welcome to each of you. Since this Legislature last met, we have witnessed significant developments in the political life of our province. On behalf of our Sovereign, I extend congratulations to the Prime Minister (Mr. Davis) and cordial greetings to the new ministry. Je tiens à vous souhaiter à tous une bienvenue des plus chaleureuses. Depuis la dernière réunion de cette assemblée, nous avons assisté à des changements importants dans la vie politique de notre province. Au nom de notre Souveraine, je présente mes félicitations au Premier Ministre et mes voeux les plus cordiaux au nouveau cabinet. The responsibilities of the new ministry will be. Challenges of a nature and complexity unknown to us only a few years ago now affect the daily lives of the people of Ontario whatever their interests or pursuits, wherever their place of residence. A sense of rediscovery and reappraisal reaches to the foundations of our society. We pray that the members of this Legislature will be given strength and wisdom so that your decisions will yield greater benefit to all the people of Ontario and, in so doing, enhance the vitality, maturity and unity of Canada. The demands and pressures upon us all during the 1970s will differ markedly from those of past decades. The men and women of Ontario are establishing fresh values to apply to the quality of their lives and to attain for their children a legacy which goes far beyond older criteria of attaining personal material goods. To this end, the people of Ontario have indicated their preparedness to work, participate and make sacrifices. This search for new values stimulates and challenges government to match the zeal of the citizenry. The structure of government must evolve accordingly so that the instruments of public service will continue to be perceptive and sensitive to the needs of the people and responsive to the requirements of responsible democracy. The government and the new ministry are committed to such evolution. During this fourth session of the 28th Parliament of Ontario, the government will place before you an extensive programme in response to the requirements of life in Ontario during the 1970s. The ministry will listen closely to the problems of the people and will act swiftly to resolve them. Policies will seek to expand and nourish individual initiative and private responsibility. The current unconscionable levels of unemployment which have been forced upon the Canadian people will be combatted with every means at the disposal of this provincial government. The budget will be presented on April 26. Its purpose will be to restore the inherent vitality of our economy so far as this is within provincial competence. This vitality is of extreme importance to the economic prospects of all areas of Canada. Already several programmes, providing 12,000 immediate new jobs in Ontario, have been announced as part of the government's drive to relieve unemployment. The resources of many departments will be directed to providing further employment opportunities. To combat unemployment and to provide for the needs of our people, the government will commence a new home construction programme. Using funds generated from the private sector and the governments of Canada and Ontario, one half billion dollars will be injected into the economy of the province. This will establish a potential for 132,000 jobs during the next year, the construction of 30,000 units of housing and shelter for 90,000 people. Summer employment for students will also require increased government assistance. Programmes have been created to enable students to demonstrate their personal initiative, respond to their concern about the environment and acquire funds which will permit their education to be continued. Some 14,000 young people will be employed this summer by the Ontario public service, a substantial increase from previous years. Among these will be 2,000 participating in the Students Working in an Environmental Enhancement Programme. As participants in this programme, to be known as SWEEP, young people will clean up land, streams and lakeshores, plant trees and maintain parks. Maintaining a healthy climate for both Canadian and foreign investors is essential to the economy of Ontario and the full employment of our working force. At the same time, the government believes that the people of Ontario should have at hand the means whereby our own economic, cultural and social objectives and priorities are determined in Canada by Canadians. So that we may more clearly understand the effects of participation in our economy by non-Canadian investors and companies, and so that solutions in this clouded area do not race ahead of adequate and unemotional analysis, the government will convene a conference on foreign investment. Representatives of all segments of the community and the federal and other provincial governments will be invited to take a full and active part in the deliberations. Through this conference, the government seeks to bring together the knowledge and experience available from all possible sources in the assessment of the implications of foreign investment. Immediate steps will be taken to enhance opportunities for Canadians to participate in the development of Ontario. The government will give preference to Canadian-owned businesses seeking grants and loans under the various incentive programmes. To further encourage Canadian enterprise and ownership, a venture capital fund will be established to assist in the financing of small businesses which have exceptional potential but which involve greater risks than are acceptable to conventional lending institutions. Additional assistance will be provided to small businesses to develop technology and products. Increased emphasis will be placed on helping industries in such areas as environmental services, transportation, and data processing. Existing regulations and standards of the Ontario Development Corporation and the Northern Ontario Development Corporation are being revised so that assistance will be more readily available to small Canadian-owned businesses and to certain segments of our service industries. A programme of immediate assistance has been launched to improve or relocate tourist establishments. An advisory committee drawn from Canadian-owned industries will be formed to assist manufacturers in such matters as tariff policy the changing structure of ownership of industry and multi-national corporate activities. Detailed consideration of one area which could have a major bearing on our cultural development is now under review by the royal commission on book publishing. To further preserve our heritage, Crown lands will henceforth be made available only on a lease basis. The government will thus retain control over ownership. Canadians will be given preferential treatment when Crown land is to be made available for cottage lots Canadians will have one year to lease the property before it is offered to others. As the last decade has demonstrated, and the 1970s will reinforce, the full enjoyment of our daily activities is closely related to conditions within our cities -- ease of and access to transportation, equality of services in rural areas, adequate housing, readily available recreational facilities and the elimination of pollution. The government will take those steps within its power to create an atmosphere in which a high quality of living and other special and enviable characteristics of life in Ontario are available to all. Present programmes will be intensified and new approaches will be sought to eliminate pollution and prevent further contamination By court and other actions, the government has already indicated its determination to en force its policies and is examining other means by which those who pollute can be made to pay for the damage they create. To achieve this objective, all provincial programmes involved in environmental conservation, management and protection will be brought together in one department. Key branches of the Ontario Water Resources Commission, together with specific function of the environmental health services branch of The Department of Health will be integrated with the existing Department of Energy and Resources Management. All will be reconstituted as The Ontario Department of the Environment. The government proposes to introduce a comprehensive bill to deal with all matters related to environmental conservation. Among the many benefits which will result from the creation of this new department will be the ability to mount a stronger programme to preserve our recreational lakes and rivers. Closely related to the new department will be the appointment of an environmental council to investigate and report upon potential new pollution hazards. The government is determined to assure the adequacy of our energy supplies for the future. It will ensure that the energy is used as efficiently as possible and that its use will not adversely affect the environment, health or life. The government will strive to maintain a choice between the various types of energy to match them with those uses for which they are best suited. To this end the committee on government productivity has been asked to review the function, structure operation, financing and objectives of the Hydro-electric Power Commission of Ontario. The committee has also been asked to advise the government with respect to the long-range energy requirements of the province. The rapid and convenient movement of people, goods and information is central to the social and economic well-being of the residents of Ontario. The government will give increasing consideration to the creation of functional, integrated and balanced transportation systems encompassing those types of public and private transportation best suited to the needs of each area. To accomplish this objective, the existing Departments of Highways and Transport and the facilities and services of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission will be brought together in a Department of Transportation and Communications. The new department will develop and employ ways to move large numbers of people and goods and stimulate the economic growth of the province, while being more sensitive to the environmental and aesthetic sensibilities of our people. The Department of Transportation and Communications will be called upon to achieve a better balance between public transit, commuter services and motor vehicle traffic. It will take steps to integrate road, rail, air and water services throughout the province. It will continue to expand and improve our road system. Special emphasis will be given to the total transportation system of the larger cities and their surrounding commuter areas. To help accomplish this, assistance will be given municipalities for the development of transit facilities. An immediate function of the new department will be to undertake a review of the costs of transporting goods into and out of northern Ontario. The Department of Transportation and Communications will also develop a telecommunications policy for Ontario. This policy will ensure that the interests of the people are fully represented in the developments associated with radio and television broadcasting, educational television, cable and special-purpose video, data transmission systems, telephone and telegraph services, and the use of the Telesat communications satellite. The provision of a sound and efficient system of education is essential to the well-being of the people of Ontario. During the last decade unprecedented expansion was required to meet an enrolment which doubled during a span of 14 years. Very large expenditures were needed for additional accommodation, more equipment and larger teaching staffs. During the 1970s the population of our schools can be expected to drop somewhat, allowing the government to concentrate its efforts and resources on the quality of our educational system and to ensure that every child will have the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential. A major development will be the concentration of all post-secondary education within a reconstituted Department of Colleges and Universities. The responsibilities of this department will include, in addition to universities, colleges of applied arts and technology and such other institutions as Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. Ryerson, which over the years has grown in stature and achievement, will be authorized to award a new type of degree which will reflect a pattern of accomplishment in which work experience is required in addition to the regular programme of study. This would appear to be consonant with the main thrust of the work of the commission on post-secondary education. The government looks forward to receiving, within the year, the report of the commission dealing with the further development of postsecondary education in Ontario in the 1970s a 1980s. It is imperative that our resources be husbanded so that full value is received for the investment made in all levels of education. Current restraints are now stabilizing the operating costs of the school system. As the province assumes a greater share of the local cost of education and provides increased money to post-secondary schools, further steps will be taken to ensure that our financial resources are used to the best advantage to provide a continued high standard of education. This is a goal that is both essential and practicable. The government is concerned about the problems encountered by the people of rural Ontario as our countryside changes in response to population pressures, technology, urbanization and recreational demands. Steps will be taken to resolve the difficulties relating to farm assessment and inequities in property taxation. To help relieve these inequities, the government will continue its efforts in co-operation with its municipal partners to lighten the burden of real estate taxes. The capital grants programme of The Department of Agriculture and Food will be expanded and revised to more adequately reflect the requirements of Ontario farmers. One of the crucial tasks in the coming decades will be to ensure that the land of the province, particularly in and around urban and recreational areas, is preserved in the interest of future generations. The government intends to create a new land bank; programme. This will be a major instrument in the implementation of regional development, recreational, housing, transportation and urban development plans. It is the government's conviction that the expanding regulatory and administrative apparatus of the state must be accompanied by continually expanding safeguards for the civil rights of individuals measures to further enshrine such rights in the statutes of Ontario will be brought forward. These will be related to procedures and the rights of individuals before the boards, commissions and tribunals established by the Legislature and the exercise of administrative discretion. The government will accelerate its programme of consumer protection to provide assistance and guidance to our people in dealing with today's complex market place. Uniform interprovincial legislation is being developed, as are policies and practices in the area of consumer protection, securities and insurance legislation. New policies designed to promote a more efficient economical and comprehensive system of delivery of health services will he brought forward during this session. In a society which has concentrated on material and economic growth, the development of our culture must also be encouraged. Living in Ontario are people of virtually every national and cultural heritage, including our native people, all sharing their strengths with others to create a dynamic family of people. The government proposes to convene a congress of ethnic culture to encourage greater communication and interaction between all groups within the Ontario family, and between these groups and the government. Government can be successful in serving its constituents only if it is able to adapt and respond to their needs. Fundamental changes are planned to enable the Executive Council to meet the challenges of the 1970s and be- and will be based to a substantial degree upon the detailed analysis now being undertaken by the committee on government productivity. Initial attention is being given to the activities and structure of the Executive Council itself. To confer reasoned flexibility upon its policy-making and management capacities, a number of committees of cabinet will be created to deal expeditiously with the co-ordination. Two major committees will be established by statute. One will deal with policy and priorities and will ensure, by continual review, that established policies and expenditures remain relevant to the needs and wishes of the people. This committee, assisted by a strengthened secretariat, will provide a vehicle to deal thoroughly with specific policies. The other committee will incorporate advanced management techniques and the traditional role of the Treasury Board. In this way the Legislature will be guaranteed levels of administrative accountability and executive competence fully commensurate with the sophistication and complexity of these times. In addition, a small number of functional committees of cabinet will be created to better integrate the multitude of government programmes in broad fields of policy. The changes in departmental responsibilities which have been described arc the beginning of restructuring of the departmental design of the government of Ontario which will be undertaken in the months and year immediately ahead. Priority will continue to be given to constitutional review. The ministry will work with other governments to produce early agreement on a revised constitution and mechanism of the amendment which will be fully compatible with the needs and conditions of Canada in the 1970s and beyond. The highlight of this session will be the opening of Ontario Place, now being completed on man-made islands in Lake Ontario. Ontario Place is a showcase of the achievements and aspirations of the people of our province. It will be a major cultural and recreational centre for all of Ontario. At the request of the government I extend a warm invitation to all members of the Legislature and all residents of Ontario to join in ceremonies on May 22 to officially open Ontario Place. As this address has indicated, the new ministry is fully aware of the existence in Ontario of many problems of a serious and urgent nature. Measures to deal with these matters have been described. In conclusion I ask the members of this Legislature to assign proportion and balance to their assessment of problems by remembering the enormous evidence of accomplishment that is the handiwork of all the people of Ontario. In Ontario, successive ministries have created machinery and implemented programmes which have contributed substantially to the advancement of our society. More importantly, each individual has combined his intellect, skills and labour in the eternal search for a better and more rewarding life for all. But in acknowledging our programmes, let us also take pride in our accomplishments. Let us have confidence in our capacity to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. May Divine Providence guide you in your deliberations. God bless the Queen and Canada.