How ex-finance minister is urging government to tackle ‘staggering debt’

Watch video above: Former finance minister urges Ontario to pursue privatization of public services

TORONTO – Ontario’s former finance minister urged the government to tackle the “staggering debt” accumulated by various governments over the course of a generation by working more closely with the private sector to provide public services.

“Ontario is faced with a staggering debt that all of our major political parties have significantly contributed to over the course of the last generation,” he said at a press conference Thursday morning. “Each of them in turn has, in their own time, close to doubled the debt.”

But the solution is not outright privatization, he said. Instead, the government should work in concert with private companies to provide services.

As examples, he pointed to Teranet – a network of online services that provides access to land registry documents – and Ornge air ambulance (though he admitted Ornge “didn’t work out”).

Duncan served as Ontario’s finance minister in the Dalton McGuinty Liberal government from October, 2005 to May, 2006.  Duncan said Thursday he tried but failed to convince his colleagues to pursue alternative service delivery during that time.

He said future governments, regardless of political stripe, will be “compelled” to look at alternative service delivery.

(Current Finance Minister Charles Sousa has created an advisory panel looking to get more value out of the LCBO, OPG and Hydro One.)

The current Liberals face an $11.3 billion deficit and have doubled the province’s debt to almost $270 billion since 2003.

And the Fraser Institute recently warned Ontarians that the size of the province’s debt is almost $120 billion more than that of the state of California.

“To many in the United States and Canada, California represents the epitome of irresponsible government spending coupled with poor cash management,” according to the Fraser Institute. “However, the province of Ontario is carrying a much worse debt burden than the state of California.”

The institute notes that every person in Ontario currently owes $20,166 towards the debt.