What Tim Hudak and Sue-Ann Levy get wrong

Lots of good tidbits and research by the St. Paul's Young Liberals on the Reality Check section of the website. Some highlights:

http://spyl.ca/reality-check/affordablehousing

September 10th, Sue-Ann Levy was at it again. This time telling an all candidates debate audience that “affordable housing is not the answer…. put the homeless into apartments.”
“There’s plenty of apartments available here in the city; vacancy is at an all time high,” she stated.

FACT: Toronto’s vacancy rate is not at an all-time high. It has been consistently dropping since early 2007 and currently stands at a low 2.4% (CMHC Report, June 2009). In fact, the Globe & Mail has predicted a “rental crunch on the horizon” (01/04/2009).

FACT: Experts agree that a comprehensive strategy is needed to address poverty and homelessness. Putting the homeless into unavailable apartment units does not qualify as such. On the other hand, the McGuinty Government has adopted a broad approach which includes: $600 million investment in Affordable Housing, that will help to repair and retrofit existing units and ensure that that families in need live in a safe, clean environment.The Poverty Reduction Strategy which is a long term plan to address the root causes of poverty.


And for a self described fiscal conservative, Tim Hudak has hit up the tax-payers from everything for beer and wings to trips to Las Vegas to TV's.

http://spyl.ca/reality-check/tims-top-ten-expenses

Some of my favs:

On April 27, 2002, while wining and dining Premier Harris’ Chief of Staff (Hudak’s now-wife, Debbie Hutton), Tim Hudak billed the taxpayers of Ontario for $134 for a room at the Kittling Ridge Winery in his riding.

A new television is a big expense a family (or, for that matter, a student!) may scrimp and save for a long time to purchase. But when Hudak’s staff wanted a larger set, they simply walked into Future Shop with a government credit card and charged the taxpayers $575 for the latest model. Their justification? To watch the parliamentary channel while in the Ministry offices. They went as far as having a bureaucrat sign an affidavit swearing that the TV was in the office and was in good working order. (No word on what they were actually watching.)
(source: St. Catharines Standard, December 6, 2002)

Viva Las Vegas! While Minister of Northern Development and Mines, Tim Hudak spent your tax money to go to a conference in Las Vegas with Vice-Presidential Candidate Dick Cheney.

Tourism Minister Tim Hudak went on a province-wide junket in the summer of 2001. In 145 days between April 1 and August 23, 2001 Hudak and his staff racked up $23,633.55 in expenses ranging from meals and hotels to plants, gum, doughnuts and napkins.

While in this one Levy waxes nostalgic for the days when I was missing class thanks to the Harris union-busting and getting a family doctor was harder for a lower-middle class family:

http://spyl.ca/reality-check/mikeharris
On August 26th, PC Candidate Sue Ann Levy went on Metro morning and told listeners that “Mike Harris was good for those times”.
Actually…. He wasn’t.
The Harris record is divisive and negative, and then Premier Harris along with then Minister Hudak, worked together to sow strife all throughout our province.
They fired 6,200 Nurses;
They closed 28 Hospitals;
Cut a Billion dollars from education and foisted Teacher Strikes onto Schools;
Eliminated rent control, and cancelled affordable housing initiatives;
and fired Food and Meat inspectors which lead to the Walkerton tragedy and they Alymer meat scandal.
Sue Ann Levy needs to get her facts straight.
Harris times were Horrible times.