Mike Harris - Common Sense Revolution

Common Sense Revolution

Upon election, the Harris government immediately began to implement a far-reaching reform agenda in order to cut the large provincial deficit accumulated under the previous Rae government. One of its first major policy decisions was to cut social assistance rates by 22%. The government stated that too many people were taking advantage of the program, and that it acted as a disincentive for seeking employment. Critics argued that the cuts were too dramatic, and increased the hardship of Ontario's poorest residents. The government also introduced "Ontario Works," frequently referred to as "workfare," a program that required able-bodied welfare recipients to participate in either training or job placements. Opponents criticized both the rationale and effectiveness of the program, which was significantly scaled back after Harris left office.

Provincial income taxes were cut by 30% to pre-1990 levels. In addition, a new Fair Share Health Levy was established and charged to high-income earners to help pay for mounting health care costs.

Shortly after assuming office, the Harris government announced that several hundred nurses would be laid off to cut costs in the health sector. The government also implemented a series of hospital closures on the recommendations of a Health Services Restructuring Commission. Harris compared the laid off hospital workers to the people who lost their jobs after the hula hoop fad died down in the early 1960s, commenting "Just as Hula-Hoops went out and those workers had to have a factory and a company that would manufacture something else that's in, it's the same in government, and you know, governments have put off these decisions for so many years that restructuring sometimes is painful" (The Globe and Mail, 6 March 1997).

The Harris government cut funding of major urban infrastructure projects upon assuming office. Though construction had already begun on the Eglinton West subway in Toronto, a proposed rapid transit line to ultimately link the main north/south subway line of the city with the suburbs and airport, funding was cancelled shortly after Harris' election.

Harris's government also cut health spending to counter the $30 Billion cut in transfer payments from the Liberal federal government. It also introduced Telehealth Ontario, a new 24-hour toll-free telephone help line with live connection to registered nurses. Harris also announced funding vehicles such as the Ontario R&D Challenge Fund, the Ontario Innovation Trust and the Premier's Research Excellence Awards.

One part of the Common Sense Revolution was to sell off various government-owned enterprises, the largest of which were to be Ontario Hydro and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Neither were actually sold off, but Ontario Hydro was split into five successor companies (the two largest being Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One, representing generation and distribution of power respectively) with the plan of eventually selling them off. Public opposition to the sale of these money-making government enterprises postponed the government's plans. In 1999, Highway 407 was leased to a private consortium in the largest such scheme to privatize the management of a public asset in Canadian history.

The government's administrative policies involved the amalgamation of several municipalities. In the largest and most widely-covered of these moves, the individual cities that made up Metro Toronto were merged into a single city (called the "megacity" by the media and citizens). The Conservatives stated that the move would eliminate duplication of services and increase efficiency, however while the amalgamation produced substantial dislocation in the delivery of civic services, in the decade since the amalgamation of Toronto no quantitative evidence of cost-savings has been produced. Opposition parties were strongly opposed to the move; the NDP took the unusual step of attempting to filibuster against the bill by reading out the name of every street name in Toronto. In order to further reduce provincial commitments, financial responsibility for provincial income assistance programs were transferred or "downloaded" to municipalities, increasing the burden on municipal tax bases.

The Harris government also announced several education reforms, most notably the elimination of the fifth year of high school in Ontario (known as the OAC year). This created a double graduating class in 2003 (known as the "double cohort") after Harris had left office. Other education reforms reduced the powers of school boards, and mandated a standardized curriculum and province-wide testing of students. In 1999, it introduced a policy of "teacher testing", requiring teachers to take examinations on a regular basis. The latter initiative was unpopular with teachers, many of whom regarded it as an intrusion on their professional autonomy. A separate controversy occurred shortly after the Harris government took office, involving events at Ipperwash Provincial Park, in which a native protester was killed by police. (See Ipperwash Crisis.)

In 1997, Ontario's teachers held the largest walkout in North American history, a two-week strike that the Harris government ruled was illegal, but were unsuccessful in getting significant changes to government policies. At Queen's Park, the site of the Ontario Legislature, there were several large protests and near-riots. Amid the general rise in the North American economy, economic indicators in Ontario improved dramatically. Ontario's growth outpaced most North American jurisdictions during Harris' first term. Even with a strong economy the Ontario provincial debt increased by an additional $20 Billion between 1995 and 1999 due to the lost revenue and borrowing required to fund Harris' massive tax cuts. He won another majority government in 1999.