Touting his lineage as a member of former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris’s government, Tory Leader Tim Hudak says voters are ready for another dose of common sense.

And that means cuts — to government services as well as to taxes.

Speaking to reporters Friday at Queen’s Park, Hudak said Ontarians deserve some “straight talk” about a bloated bureaucracy and a tax system that are throttling the province’s economy.

“Tax cuts create jobs,” he said repeatedly, echoing a rallying cry Harris used to successful political effect in his victorious 1995 and 1999 election campaigns.

“But we need to be very clear-eyed about where those jobs and tax revenues are going to come from — and that’s from a growing, leading private-sector economy.”

Hudak said the days of “bigger, more intrusive government” are coming to an end after nine years of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals in power.

“Not everybody’s going to share that view, but I think the vast majority of Ontario residents know that you can’t run government on a credit card,” he said, referring to the $14.8-billion provincial deficit.

While he can’t yet say how many hundreds or thousands of public service jobs would have to be eliminated — or where such cuts will come — Hudak emphasized that Ontarians are prepared for restraint.

“They’re looking for some straight talk from political leaders in our province today that we still cannot (continue) on a massive spending route — in fact we’ve got to go in the opposite direction and reduce spending,” he said, adding he’s “proud” to have been part of a Harris government that created 1 million jobs in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Reprising the themes of that era, the Tory leader said his party would consult on which taxes should be cut but he appeared to be leaning toward reducing corporate rates in order to spur job growth.

He also hinted that the Conservatives would be looking at selling off provincial assets such as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, TVOntario, and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission.

“I’m going to have more to say . . . in the time ahead about what the role of government should be in 2012, what services should be delivered by the private sector, what should be regulated by the province or what should be directly delivered.”

His comments come as the Tories are gearing up for an election expected as early as next spring by releasing a slew of policy papers.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan expressed concern Hudak’s approach to slashing services to bankroll lower taxes could lead to a reprise of tragedies like the 2000 tainted-water disaster in Walkerton that killed seven people.

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“We’ve seen this movie before — Ontarians remember Back to the Future and now Tim Hudak would take us ‘Back to the Harris ’90s,’ ” Duncan said in a statement.

“To pay for tax cuts for their wealthy friends, the PCs will fire nurses, close hospitals, and cut water and meat inspectors like they did before. Ontarians don’t want to go backwards.”

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