Does Dalton McGuinty have a clue?

So here's the background: the economy of Ontario is circling around the drain, EI claims are increasing to record levels, the retail sector is in severe decline and the housing market is in the dumpster. Time for bold action from the provincial government, no?

No. What is Premier McGuinty's response? First, let's increase the minimum wage in the middle of the worst recession in decades:

A scheduled 75-cent hourly increase in Ontario's minimum wage will go as planned next month.

That won't please the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which called on the government to scrap the plan to boost the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour beginning March 31.

The small-business lobby cited the faltering economy, and says the last thing its members need is another increase in the cost of doing business.

Labour Minister Peter Fonseca says the government consulted businesses before implementing a schedule to increase the minimum wage each year.

Second, let's impose mandatory energy audits on homeowners at $300 a pop as a requirement for selling a house in a market where house values have dropped precipitously:

Ontario residents won't be able to sell their houses or condos without first getting a home energy audit – which now costs about $300 – under the proposed new Green Energy Act.

That's one of several measures in the legislation unveiled by Energy Minister George Smitherman to boost incentives for electricity conservation and encourage renewable sources of energy.

The legislation was applauded by environmentalists as ambitious, although the David Suzuki Foundation says its green intent is undermined by government plans to build a new nuclear power plant at Darlington.

But critics fear the energy audits and Smitherman's estimated 1 per cent rise in household electricity bills as a result of the law will pinch pocketbooks as the recession deepens.

"It'll be used to beat down the seller of a home," Progressive Conservative MPP and energy critic John Yakabuski warned of the audit, which would put detailed information on a home's energy efficiency into the hands of buyers.

Toronto homeowners are already concerned about the impact the city's new land transfer tax – in addition to the provincial one – is having on sales and prices. Both taxes add up to thousands of dollars even on cheaper houses.

I've said it before, but it's worth repeating: Ontario has the worst government in Canada, bar none.