The photo of a blank cheque on the report’s cover says you all you need to know about what Ontario's Auditor General, Jim McCarter, discovered while investigating the McGuinty government's $32-million slush fund that handed out cheques to various cultural groups. In fact, the Auditor General described the process behind the slush fund as “among the worst that (I’ve) seen, in terms of almost no controls, process, or accountability.” The report released by McCarter on July 26 found evidence that the money was in many cases distributed at the discretion of Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle’s office without any process to ensure that taxpayers’ money was being spent properly or even to determine whether the funds were needed by the recipient groups. In some cases, no paperwork or formal application for funds could be found. One of the many examples highlighted by the Auditor General was a $1-million grant to the Ontario Cricket Association when the association only asked for $150,000. The association then deposited $500,000 of the funds in a GIC because they did not need the money, and used $20,000 in a lavish dinner celebration to thank Dalton McGuinty for the million-dollar cheque.

PC Leader vows to oversee the implementation of necessary changes at MPAC or to replace it with a model that works for homeowners (Pickering, ON) – Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, PC Finance Critic Tim Hudak and other PC candidates stood outside the offices of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation in Pickering today to reinforce their commitment to protect Ontario homeowners from skyrocketing property assessment increases that put them at risk of losing their homes. MPP Tim Hudak joins PC Leader John Tory and local PC Candidates at the MPAC building in Pickering"Dalton McGuinty is quick to act when it comes to his year-end slush fund and shoveling taxpayers’ money out the door as quick as possible,” said Tory. “But he’s painfully slow to move when it comes to protecting homeowners and as a result he has allowed Ontario’s property assessment system to spiral out of control. It was only when the provincial Ombudsman released a scathing report revealing the arrogance and unfairness taxpayers were experiencing that Dalton McGuinty even acknowledged there was a problem.”

BEAMSVILLE – Erie-Lincoln MPP Tim Hudak said today that Dalton McGuinty must pay a political price for his months of stonewalling in an attempt to cover up his government’s egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars described by Ontario’s Auditor General. Tim asked many questions about McGuinty's slush fund in the LegislatureOntario’s Auditor General confirmed yesterday that the Liberals’ “year-end slush fund” was politically directed and had little or no controls or process to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars were being spent properly. The Auditor General described the slush fund granting process as “among the worst that (I’ve) seen, in terms of almost no controls, process, or accountability.” Some of the examples highlighted by the Auditor General include: • A $1-million grant to the Ontario Cricket Association by the McGuinty Government when the Cricket Association only asked for $150,000. The Cricket Association then deposited $500,000 into a GIC because they did not need the money, and used $20,000 in a lavish dinner celebration to thank Dalton McGuinty for the million dollar cheque.

July 18, 2007 For Immediate Release Progress Being Made with Temporary Operator Grimsby - Erie-Lincoln MPP Tim Hudak and Grimsby resident Lynn Vanderplaat met at the site of the old Grimsby Ministry of Transportation (MTO) Office today, as they continued to put pressure on the McGuinty Government to permanently re-open the MTO Office. After over 30 years of providing valuable service to the residents of Grimsby, the McGuinty Government closed the Grimsby MTO Office in March. After a public outcry from the community, local political leaders and a petition drive, the McGuinty Government has backed down and announced the office will re-open for at least one year. The closure of the MTO Office is particularly upsetting as driver fees have doubled under the McGuinty Government’s tenure, but important services such as the Grimsby MTO Office have been cut. From his contacts with the provincial government, Hudak has learned that the Ministry is currently reviewing applications to select a temporary operator to provide in person service for the period of one year. Hudak will keep the pressure up to ensure that Grimsby maintains a permanent MTO Office staffed by a person, not simply a computer kiosk.

Erie-Lincoln MPP Tim Hudak is calling for action by Environment Minister Laurel Broten in the ongoing Pelham sludge dispute. Hudak sent a letter to the Environment Minister, a year after the issue was first raised by Pelham residents. In the letter Hudak calls on the Environment Minister to take some real action two years after first receiving her Expert Panel's report which recomended sound-sorb be managed and regulated like any other waste, and one year after Pelham residents first raised their concerns. MPP Tim Hudak's letter is below. July 16, 2007 Hon. Laurel Broten Minister of the Environment 12th Floor, 135 St. Clair Ave. W. Toronto, ON M4V 1P5 Dear Minister Broten For over a year the residents of Pelham have been waiting for some meaningful action from your Ministry to clean up the massive sound sorb berm on Church St. in Fenwick in the Town of Pelham. On Saturday, the St. Catharines Standard reported that a year has passed and the Ministry of Environment has not been able to enforce orders to clean up the massive sound sorb berm on Church St. in Fenwick.

The only thing more frustrating than paying consistently high prices at the pumps is knowing that the built-in taxes do not currently go to fund roads, bridges or public transit. Many people don’t realize that the gas and fuel taxes collected by the province – more than $3 billion annually - are currently funneled into a general revenue stream at the provincial treasury and can be spent on just about anything the government desires. We just hope that all the gas and fuel tax dollars make their way to where they belong. Unfortunately, provincial spending on transportation is less than two thirds of the total gas and fuel tax haul. More than one third of the gas tax revenue ($1.17 billion) is currently being diverted away to other areas. As a lifelong Niagara resident and a Niagara-based MPP for the past 12 years, I have traveled my fair share of the region’s road network – from Grimsby to Fort Erie and all points in between on a regular basis.

MPP Tim Hudak once again called on the Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) today to heed Niagara residents’ call for an MNR-funded gypsy moth spraying program. The gypsy moth (above) deforested more than 12,000 acres of foliage in Niagara in 2006The gypsy moth, according to the MNR, is a particularly dangerous pest because it can nest in more than 500 different native plant species. It is most destructive during the larval stage, typically in June, when entire areas can be stripped of foliage. Hudak last called on MNR Minister David Ramsay to fund a spraying program in November, which could have been administered in time to avert the same sort of destruction seen in the Niagara region last year. Professional arbourists have estimated that gypsy moths deforested more than 12,000 acres across the Niagara peninsula in 2006. Those experts estimate the same devastation will occur in Niagara this year, though it might have been avoided had the Minister heeded Hudak’s call for a comprehensive spraying program. “The longer we have to wait, the more expensive it is going to be when this annual infestation spreads throughout other greenbelt communities and across the province,” Hudak wrote in a letter to Minister Ramsay. (Letter is attached below) July 5, 2007 Hon. David Ramsay

QUEEN’S PARK – A PC MPP’s Private Member’s Bill that aimed to limit the speed of big rig trucks on Ontario highways – opposed by key Liberal MPPs and denied a third and final reading in the Legislature – has been put on the fast track now that the McGuinty Liberals are on the campaign trail. PC environment critic Laurie Scott introduced a Bill in May 2006 to install speed limiters on transport trucks, which would limit them to travelling at a maximum of 105 kilometres per hour. Though the Bill was supported by the Ontario Trucking Association, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Canadian Automobile Association, the Ontario Safety League, the Ontario Lung Association, and members of all parties, a number of Liberal MPPs voted against it, including parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Transportation Phil McNeely and Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman. On Monday, the proposal was resurrected by Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield, who announced that transport trucks will soon be outfitted with speed limiters.

Erie-Lincoln MPP Tim Hudak condemned the Native blockades of the CN railway and 401 highway in eastern Ontario today, calling for the restoration of equal treatment of all Ontarians under one rule of law. Hudak said resolutions to the concerns brought forward by the First Nations leaders can be achieved through peaceful mediation and negotiation, but resolutions can not, and should not, be resolved as a result of anyone breaking the law. Hudak said he sympathizes with the driving motives behind today’s Day of Action peaceful protests, such as quality of life on reserves and land claims; however, the few who chose to take unlawful action today are actually working against the Aboriginal cause. “All levels of government can certainly do more to address the First Nations’ concerns about economic opportunities and health care,” Hudak said, “however, this does not justify threatened use of arms, blockades and a wanton flaunting of the law.” Hudak said Premier McGuinty’s total bungling of the occupation in Caledonia, now in its 17th month, has sent a signal to protestors that such unlawful behaviour will be tolerated by the provincial government, and it has encouraged further unlawful activities, such as the blockades today.