In the past few days, articles have been appearing rating the McGuinty Liberal government. These articles are common just before the legislature returns. A couple of these articles raised specific points that have stuck with me.

In the first article, the results of a recent SES poll were reported. In that poll, the McGuinty Liberal government did not fare all that well. In this poll only 18 percent of Ontario voters think that Dalton McGuinty is doing a good job.

The other article that caught my eye indicated that the McGuinty Liberals would not balance the budget by the end of their mandate in 2007.

I think there is a direct connection between these two articles. If Mr. McGuinty wants to know why he is not getting good marks for his performance so far, he should look at his record of 41 broken promises.

During the election campaign the Liberals promised to balance the budget. In Dalton McGuinty’s first budget, he raised taxes but assured Ontarians he would balance the budget by the end of his first term. They told us that the money from the tax would allow them to deliver better health care. They are certainly not delivering on this promise.

The bottom line here is that the Liberals have no plan. At every turn, this government has shown that it has no plan. It has no fiscal plan, it has no health care plan, and it has no agricultural plan.

Their deficit this year will be $6 billion, almost three times as much as they said it would be. The McGuinty Liberals’ lies have crushed the hopes of working families around the province.

They do not seem to understand that high taxes and big deficits kill jobs. There have been 25,000 job losses so far since the Liberals came to office. Farmers have had to deal with a provincial government that has shown that it does not care. Hospitals have been told that they will get predictable funding - there has been nothing predictable about the way that the government has been providing health care funding. Seniors and others surviving on limited incomes are going to bear the brunt of the Liberals energy policy with its higher rates.

The new legislative session has just begun. During question period each day and at committee meetings, my caucus colleagues and I will be working hard to make sure that the government realizes that they need to do a better job than they have been doing so far.