The circumstances in this province are extraordinary. We are being battered by an economic crisis that is unlike anything seen in many decades, and that is not of our making. 

If we can look for any silver lining – and we must – the course of the action we take can be as historic as the crisis itself.  Government responses will determine how long and how severe this economic downturn will be.  Inaction, timid and partial measures will lengthen the recession and deepen and extend the suffering. 

Ontario’s upcoming budget is critical - not only for its response to the recession, but for the path it sets us on when we come out of the recession.  It should be a path to a more sustainable future; a greener economy; and for a rebuilt public and social infrastructure.

I’m not an economist.  But I knew we were in deep trouble when all the Bay Street economists changed their no-deficit tune.  What had been an article of faith over the past 10 years had been abandoned in less than three months.  In those three months we have seen the TSX lose 40 percent of its value; sovereign governments fail, and U.S. consumption move into a free fall. 

However, this is just a partial victory for common sense. While the debate has moved away from whether governments should ever run deficits, it has moved to what size the deficit should be.  Some will tell you that while government shouldn’t make things worse by reducing spending or raising taxes, they shouldn’t do anything to make things better either.

There is an international consensus that governments must take strong action. The G-20 group of nations, the European Union, and others share this view.  The International Monetary Fund said governments should introduce spending programs in the range of 2 percent of GDP. 

For Ontario, this means a stimulus of about $12 billion.  Other national governments like Britain and China are providing fiscal stimulus that is more than 5 percent of GDP. President-Elect Obama has a vision for where the economy needs to be heading in the future, and what government can do to help it get there. 

What do we have here in Canada?  I ask that all of us take a moment now and remember the people I spoke about at the beginning of my remarks. 

What are we doing for the people who are losing their jobs, whose pensions and savings are insufficient, and whose present and future are insecure?