As Dalton McGuinty traveled to the east-coast premier's summit late last month to preach the words of fiscal equity to his fellow premiers his government has been singing a different tune at home.

The Liberal government has announced that all Canadians evacuated from Lebanon returning to Ontario will immediately have access to healthcare among other provincial services. Even those individuals who have been outside the province for more than 212 days will have had the mandatory 3 month wait time for OHIP waived. In other words, these individuals who do not call Canada home nor pay tax here will jump the line.

The outbreak of war has sparked debate over the necessity to support foreign nationals caught in conflict. Although some Members of Parliament were in favor of charging non-resident Canadian citizens a fee for their emergency travel back to Canada and even leaving them behind in a war zone, the majority - including the Canadian Taxpayers Federation - argued in favor of equity for all citizens; residents or not.

Members of Parliament fought hard to ensure that all Canadian citizens were and continue to be treated equally. On the other hand the McGuinty government has gone out of its way to do the opposite. It seems as though Dalton McGuinty is perfectly ok with two tiered citizenship.
While new residents in Ontario pay their taxes and wait the required 3 month period for OHIP, temporary residents arriving from Lebanon will move right to the front of the healthcare line. Even a Canadian from another province must wait 3 months before gaining access to health services despite having already paid federal taxes as well as provincial taxes to his former home province. Why should the rules be different for non-residents that do not pay any tax

The residency requirement for publicly funded health care services exists to ensure citizens living outside a given province do not saunter home every time they are in need of medical attention. Canadian citizenship encompasses more than simply collecting rights and entitlements. It requires a basic level of commitment to Canada, and in this case the province of Ontario.

There is absolutely no guarantee that Canadian non-residents fleeing the conflict in Lebanon will remain in Ontario, and pay taxes - including the $690 healthcare premium tax the average Ontario family pays each year, when the conflict is resolved.

Individuals fleeing equally devastating circumstances who seek refuge in Canada are exposed to the same balance of rights and obligations ordinary Canadian citizens live with everyday. They too will watch the recently evacuated Lebanese Canadians pass them in the healthcare line. Should they or any Canadian for that matter need healthcare in the meantime, they will have to pay for it out of their pockets. That's only fair to Ontario taxpayers

Thanks to Dalton McGuinty's ignorance to the importance of a Canadian commitment to their country and province, a taxpaying citizen from another province has ultimately become a second class citizen. They will continue to wait for healthcare even though they have paid both federal taxes as well as taxes to their former province while others who have not shown the same level of commitment jump the cue.

While Premier McGuinty spent last week preaching the rhetoric of fiscal equity among the provinces to his fellow premiers he should take a few moments to reflect on what he has done for equity at home.