Barrie MPP Rod Jackson has been on an interesting ride since winning last fall’s provincial election.
From fighting against bumper pads for autistic children, and calming rooms in elementary schools, to last fall’s prorogation at Queen’s Park, to attending the opposition Liberal party’s leadership race last weekend, Jackson has found his footing while he says the province has lost its way.
A one-on-one at the Examiner shone some light on Progressive Conservative politician’s take on the last 15 months as Barrie’s local member of provincial parliament.
EXAMINER: What did you think of the recent election of premier-designate Kathleen Wynne?
JACKSON: I was there on the floor with observer status. I had to pay $1,000 to go, but I had the best seat in the house, right in the middle with camera crews, so I could see what was going on on the floor. So it will show up on their books that I made a $1,000 donation to the Liberal party.
With Wynne, I don’t think her win has anything to do with gender or sexuality, just her ability to get the job done.
The Liberals are in a lot of trouble now and Wynne has a seat; they couldn’t wait for (Sandra) Pupatello to hold a byelection and get a seat. I think they knew they needed someone to get them back into parliament as soon as possible.
EXAMINER: What needs to be done with regards to public servants jobs?
JACKSON: That’s where Wynne is a lot like (Premier) Dalton McGuinty. He created 300,000 public-service jobs in his nine years as leader. They’re not wealth-generating jobs; it’s a vicious circle where they’re paid by taxes, they spend money in the community, that money goes into taxes which pays their jobs. You can’t afford to grow the province that way.
EXAMINER: What do you think needs to be fixed in the education sector now?
JACKSON: The Education Quality and Accountability of Ontario (EQAO) concept has merit. You hear teachers are manipulating the tests. So you want to know how the individuals are really performing. You’re not getting a snapshot of that, so I don’t think it’s objective enough.
There should be a reassessment for teachers, not just for students. We assess the learning and performing of students and know they’re only a product of our efforts of teaching them.
When my private member’s bill concerning (banning) bumper pads died on the table (when the government was prorogued Oct. 15) it was past second reading and had gone to committee.
My intention is to bring it back and the positive side of it is, I get to redo it, so I can add the calming rooms misuse to it.
I’m not opposed to calming rooms, where children can go to calm down, but I am opposed to calming rooms that do anything but calm down the children, where they’re left alone in a locked room the size of a janitor’s closet.
That’s not appropriate and if you did that to your kid at home, the Children’s Aid Society would be involved.
I’ve seen calming rooms that worked in the George Bailey Public School (for autistic children). So there is a benchmark for this that we’ve got to follow.
The negative thing is, for that and the Simcoe County District School Board using bumper pads, we get negative national attention in the media. I’ve had our leader (Tim Hudak) call and say ‘What’s going on up there?’
The legislature is full of young members who have young families. We have to work together — across party lines — to protect the most vulnerable people in our communities.
EXAMINER: What about a Barrie university on the lands where Barrie Central Collegiate is now?
JACKSON: It’s on everyone’s radar. I talked to Minister of Training Colleges and Universities Glen Murray about it on Saturday. We need to understand it’s not going to look like what everybody thinks it should look like. I don’t mean we’ll snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Barrie’s prime for a university and Barrie’s geography is what we’ve got going for us. But we can’t build silos; a new university doesn’t have to be a stand alone one of.
We (different levels of government) need to come together to talk about what our needs are. My fear is that we’ll move too
far along one path. We need to let everyone (in the ministry) know we’re ready for it and we’re flexible.
EXAMINER: What can we do to lower unemployment rates in Barrie?
JACKSON: The biggest employer in Barrie is small businesses, those with under four employees. We’d love to see big plants. Places like Moore Packaging and South Medics are the success stories of this region. Moore Packaging started in a garage and expanded to a staff of 300 people.
The Liberals have created road blocks and obstacles for small business. Just the number of permits they have to have creates disinterest (for small business owners).
There’s so much red tape standing in the way, so government has to get out of the way because I don’t know any small business that doesn’t want to grow.
EXAMINER: Is there still a place for unions in this economy?
JACKSON: The labour legislation hasn’t changed since the ’40s. The public sector (payroll) takes half of the government’s total budget. I think unions need to be made accountable. Currently, unions don’t have to explain how they spend their dues. So, they’re using people’s money, who don’t have a choice and are forced to join the union. I mean, teachers were fined $500 if they didn’t toe the line.
EXAMINER: Will Springwater Provincial Park close March 31?
JACKSON: I like that park (and) we’ve taken our kids there. I think it’s a good analogy of what’s wrong with this government. Instead of looking at ways to generate more income, they close it.
The park will still be there, but with no animals and just overgrown (vegetation). Some organizations are trying to save it and I’ve facilitated meetings and brought those plans to the ministry (of natural resources).
The ministry is using their own business plan. They should be thinking outside of the box. Maybe Barrie and Springwater (Township) can run it together? Maybe there are other options. This just happened so fast. The MNR didn’t consult with local MPPs. There was none of that, we were just told they were closing the park.
EXAMINER: What’s your opinion of Ontario’s current overall state of affairs?
JACKSON: We’re interested in making government work. Tim (Hudak) been aggressively touring across Ontario showing our hands, putting our cards on the table, saying these are our plans. We’re not shy about saying what we think. The NDP’s cards aren’t on the table, and I think it’s incumbent on them telling us what they’re doing.
Wynne is going to continue Dalton’s legacy. They want to contribute more to social services. We don’t have a revenue problem in Ontario, we have a spending problem.
If you look at the e-Health, OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming), ORNGE and the gas-plant fiasco in Mississauga, there’s been huge scandal and massive amounts of money misspent. The average person can’t comprehend the amount of money lost.
We were always a have-province, yet we’ve come out of this a have-not province. Our unemployment rate is below Newfoundland’s. We have the Ring of Fire (northern mining), and we’re the financial heart of Canada and we still have the most manufacturing jobs in Canada.
There’s no excuse for us to be an under-performing province, yet somehow we found our way to the bottom of the pile.”
EXAMINER: What are the next steps?
JACKSON: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention TNT, the Training and Trades Initiative I have going with Mayor Jeff Lehman. We need skilled trades in this market, and we’re creating a program to help them succeed and make it less difficult to become or hire an apprentice.
And we’ve got to do a better job with skilled foreign newcomers. We’re losing good people to other provinces. We’ve got the brain drain and brain waste; where doctors and engineers are either leaving or they’re driving cabs. We’ve got the PNP — the Provincial Nomination Program — in Ontario, and we’ve got to do a better job taking advantage of that program.
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