Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Ontario 30e 1e Discours du Trône 28 octobre 1975 Pauline McGibbon Lieutenant Governor Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario Mr. Speaker and members of the legislative assembly of Ontario: I am pleased to welcome you to the opening of the first session of the 30th Parliament of Ontario, and especially so to those hon. members whose first term of office is now beginning. In this brief session, my government will deal primarily with the following critical issues: Inflation, rents, mortgage interest rates and tenant security. Our province faces times which will require a demonstration of co-operation in placing the common good above other interests. The government, in its concern over the economic health of the province and the problems of inflation and unemployment, supports the decision of the government of Canada to launch a nation-wide attack on these problems. Notre province se trouve à une époque ou la coopération sera indispensable et où il faudra placer le bien commun avant tout autre intérêt. Se préoccupant du bien-être économique de la province, ainsi que les problèmes de I ‘inflation et du chômage, l'Ontario appuie la décision du gouvernement du Canada, qui vient de prendre des mesures à l’échelle nationale pour lutter contre l'inflation. The government appeals to the people of Ontario to be resolute in this fight against inflation and to make the programme work. Ontario firmly believes that to be most effective, the programme should be applied as uniformly as possible throughout Canada. The government has therefore decided that the national programme should apply directly to the public sector in Ontario in the same way as with other sectors in the economy. Ontario has made representations to Ottawa to improve the anti-inflation programme. These include the need for a firmer approach to price controls, tighter expenditure restraints by the federal government in its own operations and a re-evaluation of the $600 limit on pay increases at the lower end of the scale. The Ontario government has led the way during the past year in restraining its own expenditures and reducing the growth of its civil service. These measures will be continued in reinforcement of the national programme. Ontario's economy is making a good recovery after the setback experienced in the first part of this year. Unemployment, which rose to 7.3 per cent in Canada this summer, reached a high in Ontario of 6.4 per cent in June and has since fallen to 5.8 per cent. So far this year 102,000 new jobs have been created in this province. You will be asked to proceed with amendments to the Development Corporations Act and the Municipal Act to establish an industrial parks programme which will offer financial aid to municipalities to acquire and service facilities for this purpose. The province recognizes its responsibilities to senior citizens in a weaker economic position in our community and will introduce a new rent supplement programme retroactive to April 1, 1975. The government intends to introduce a programme retroactive to July 30, 1975, to protect tenants against unjustified rent increases. In addition, new legislation will be brought forward to provide security of tenure for residential tenants. Several appeals have been made to the federal government to insulate residential mortgage rates from the direct influence of monetary policy decisions and so relieve the burden of increased mortgage interest rates on owner-occupied residences. In the absence of federal action, Ontario is prepared to proceed on its own. Legislation will be introduced to treat the assessment of condominiums in the same way as single-family dwellings. You will be asked to approve legislation to regulate retail sales activities on Sundays as well as on certain public holidays. The pro- posed legislation' seeks to reaffirm Sundays and holidays as days of restricted commercial activity, to protect workers and in the interests of preserving and enhancing family life. The government is convinced that the acquisition of all firearms must be strictly controlled as a means of combatting increasing and tragic incidences of violence in our society. The government has urged repeatedly that this can best be dealt with through amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada. The federal government now appears to agree with this position and has indicated that it will be taking early action on the national level along the lines which Ontario has proposed. In the event that there is any undue delay in this matter, the Ontario government is prepared to introduce legislation to cover this province until such time as a national programme is in place. It is my government's aim to provide the people of Ontario with assured energy sup- plies at competitive prices and with minimum harm to the environment. Because of the very high capital costs of developing new energy production facilities, the government has directed Ontario Hydro to pursue the possibility of increased interprovincial exchanges of electricity by the development of regional transmission grids with the aim of providing electricity to Ontario at the lowest cost consistent with adequate systems security. You will be asked to approve legislation for orderly allocation of natural gas supplies, in the event of possible shortages before additional supplies become available. Above all, my government urges the people of Ontario, whether as individuals or as corporate consumers, to co-operate in saving energy to help reduce overall consumption and waste of resources. The measures outlined in this address and others that will be presented in the course of this session face up to the economic and social problems of Ontario and offer a challenge to this Legislature to work responsibly in the interests of the people of om: province. My government is aware that agreement on the serious nature of present problems does not necessarily mean a consensus on appropriate solutions. At the same time, the government is confident of the capacity of this assembly to do the job at hand and to do it effectively. In our Sovereign's name, I thank you. God bless the Queen and Canada.