Ontario’s locked-door policy in schools doesn’t add up

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 14, 2013 at 10:28 AM - 0 Comments

Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Canada is not the United States.

It shouldn’t be necessary to make such an obvious observation. But with the premier of Canada’s largest province apparently overlooking this fact, it seems worth repeating.

In one of his final policy moves before retiring later this month, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty recently announced a “locked-door policy” for all 4,000 publicly funded elementary schools in the province; and a $10-million fund to pay for new security systems so school visitors can be “buzzed in.” This in response to the horrific shooting of 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last December.

“In the aftermath of that tragic event that unfolded in the U.S., I think there’s an important question that we need to ask ourselves: are we taking all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of our kids at school?” McGuinty said in making the announcement. Continue…

McGuinty on federal Liberal leadership: ‘I’ve decided not to run’

By Joan Bryden - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 6:39 AM - 0 Comments

OTTAWA – Dalton McGuinty won’t be challenging Justin Trudeau for the federal Liberal leadership.

The Ontario premier has decided to look for challenges outside politics altogether.

“I made a commitment … both to myself and to some supporters to carefully consider a run for the Liberal leadership for the Liberal Party of Canada,” McGuinty told The Canadian Press.

“I’ve talked it over with family and supporters and I’ve decided not to run.”

McGuinty has been under mounting pressure to run for the federal party’s top job since he shocked the nation last week by announcing his intention to resign as premier.

Some of his closest advisers have put together a campaign team that would have been ready to go this week had McGuinty decided to take the plunge.

Liberals eager for a heavyweight rival to Trudeau, the prohibitive front-runner, have been urging McGuinty to leap to the federal arena. A source close to the premier said he’s received encouragement from “Bay Street titans, private labour leaders, student and community leaders, particularly by current mayors, former premiers from across the country and two former prime ministers.”

McGuinty thanked all those who would have supported his candidacy and joked that his wife, Terri, “thanks all those who were opposed.”

He said two factors heavily influenced his decision to stay out of the fray: the conflicting timing of the federal and provincial leadership races and the 10-year commitment required to rebuild the shattered federal party, which was reduced to a 34-seat rump in the 2011 election.

The Ontario Liberal Party has set the weekend of Jan. 25 for choosing his successor. McGuinty noted he’s promised to stick around as premier until his successor is chosen, “a job that takes 110 per cent of my time.” That would leave little time to campaign in the federal race, which is already well underway, although the starting gun doesn’t officially go off until Nov. 14, and culminates on April 14.

Moreover, McGuinty noted he’s served 22 years in provincial politics — 16 at the helm of Ontario Liberals, nine as premier — and said that’s enough for him, and for his family.

“My family has supported me throughout. So, it’s time for me to take on challenges outside of politics and I am confident that I’m going to find other ways to serve my province and my country and that’s what I look forward to doing.”

The 57-year-old, who spent years turning around the provincial Liberals’ dismal prospects, said he’s simply not prepared to make the kind of long-term commitment required to rebuild the federal party.

“It is a big undertaking. It is a long-term commitment. It reminds me somewhat of where our party (in Ontario) was many years ago,” he said.

“I would argue it takes a decade-long commitment and that is not something that I’m prepared to commit to after my time in politics.”

That said, McGuinty said he is “very optimistic” about the future of the federal Liberal party.

“One of the things I’ve discovered in talking to people in different parts of the country is there’s a tremendous bedrock of goodwill and enthusiasm. It’s not being manifested on the surface at this point in time but it is there nonetheless,” he said.

“I would also argue … that we are, by inclination and in terms of our history, we are small ‘l’ liberals, we Canadians. And it’s just a matter now of doing the necessary work to recommit ourselves to Canadians, to show people that we are hungry, that we have good ideas, that we understand the future, we know where our place for success can be found in that future and to get on with the work.

“So I am, in fact, very optimistic about the future of my federal party.”

The prospect of an effective coronation for Trudeau, eldest son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, fuelled much of the movement to draft McGuinty. Even those who support the Montreal MP, the federal party’s undisputed rock star, believe it would be better for the party to have a vigorous race that attracts public attention and tests the mettle of the eventual winner.

McGuinty said he believes “it’s always better that we have a strongly contested race for the leadership, that’s just healthier for all concerned.”

Still, he added: “Anybody who seeks the leadership here, I think my advice to them would be this had better be about much bigger things than just stopping another candidate. You know, you’ve got to have some ideas and some energy and some idealism that you want to put on the table.”

Other than Trudeau, a handful of little-known contenders are already stumping the country: constitutional lawyer Deborah Coyne, mother of Trudeau’s half sister, Ottawa lawyer David Bertschi and Vancouver lawyer Alex Burton. Several others appear close to jumping in, including Liberal House leader Marc Garneau, Canada’s first astronaut; former MP and leadership contestant Martha Hall Findlay and Toronto lawyer George Takach.

McGuinty said he’d be surprised if other serious contenders didn’t enter the race. That could potentially include his own brother, Ottawa MP David McGuinty, who has mused about running for the leadership although he has shown few signs so far of putting together a campaign team.

“You’d have to ask him directly,” McGuinty said of brother David. “And if he were to seek the leadership, he’d have my whole-hearted support.”

He said the prospect of potentially running against his brother was not a factor in his decision, saying he and David “would never pull a Miliband brothers” — a reference to Ed and David Miliband who both sought to lead Britain’s Labour party in 2010; Ed won. Had they both wanted to run for the federal leadership, McGuinty said he and David would have “come to an understanding” but it never came to that.

“It’s not in keeping with where I find myself today and where I want to go tomorrow so it’s now in his (David’s) court. If that’s something that he wants to do, he has my support.”

Speculation about the premier making a federal leadership run has been dismissed by some pundits as a distraction ploy, aimed at diverting attention from the scandals and controversy that chased McGuinty out of the premier’s office a year after winning a third election, with a reduced minority mandate, only a year ago.

However, behind the scenes, some of McGuinty’s closest advisers — including Don Guy, mastermind of his three election victories, former chief of staff Chris Morley, deputy chief of staff Dave Gene and former director of operations Charlie Angelakos — had quickly started pulling together a national campaign team.

Insiders said they had strong organizations in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, people in place to head up youth and social media campaigns, develop policy and manage communications. Finance chairs were set to be announced in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. A campaign strategy — aimed at encouraging voter engagement — had been developed.

“It was coming together surprisingly quickly,” said one. “What we thought would be a testing of the waters quickly became a campaign team in waiting.”

“Dalton would have brought a lot to the race,” said another. “He rebuilt the (provincial) party and battled the Conservative attack machine to win three times. He has a track record of result in health and education and a vision for the future of the country.

“But the timing of the provincial convention at the end of January made it impossible to mount a campaign.”

Ontario Liberal leadership convention date set for late January

By The Canadian Press - Monday, October 22, 2012 at 5:11 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – The Ontario Liberal party has set a date in late January to elect a new leader who will take the reins from outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty and eventually recall the provincial legislature.

McGuinty, who shocked the public with his surprise resignation last Monday, has said his successor must decide when to bring back the legislature which he prorogued as he stepped down.

The Liberal party’s executive council decided Sunday on a Jan. 25, 2013 leadership convention date.

The opposition parties — who have been infuriated with the prorogation — were quick to argue that the date created too long a wait for a new legislative session.

The Progressive Conservatives and NDP continued to call on McGuinty to reverse his decision to pull the plug on political proceedings. They say Queen’s Park was prorogued so the government could avoid scrutiny over its decision to cancel two power stations.

NDP house leader Gilles Bisson said in a release that waiting until early next year to bring the legislature back is simply not in the best interests of Ontarians.

“People want MPPs back to work — this year not next. The McGuinty Liberals can’t shut down the Legislature until 2013,” Bisson said.

Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod said there’s no reason a Liberal leadership race couldn’t be held with the legislature sitting.

“It’s disgraceful that they want to hold the assembly hostage this long,” she said. “It’s very clear that we could still be having the house in session while they have their leadership (contest).”

Liberal leadership candidates face a deadline of 5 p.m. on Nov. 23 to submit their leadership forms. They’ll need at least 250 signatures from party members and must pay a $50,000 entrance fee, while campaign spending will be capped at $500,000.

One high profile potential leadership candidate bowed out of the contest Sunday.

Ontario Liberal party president Yasir Naqvi said it was a “very personal decision” not to run for the party leadership.

“As the father of five-month old Rafi, I had to think long and hard,” he said in a statement. “First and foremost, I am Rafi’s dad, and being a father is my most important new job.”

Speculation that Naqvi would run grew last week when he recused himself from a conference call on the leadership convention, but wouldn’t confirm whether he intended to run for leader.

Naqvi said he’ll continue to work for his constituents in Ottawa Centre and looks forward to helping run the leadership convention.

“Now is a pivotal time in our party, and it is important that we ensure the leadership race is transparent, fair and robust,” he said.

“I know many of my colleagues are considering entering the race, and I wish them all the best of luck in their deliberations.”

Ontario Housing Minister Kathleen Wynne and Health Minister Deb Matthews are considered to be likely contenders, along with Energy Minister Chris Bentley and Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid, among others. But all remain coy about whether they’ll throw their hat in the ring.

John Wilkinson, the former environment and revenue minister who lost his seat in last year’s election, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate, as have former ministers George Smitherman and Sandra Pupatello.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan told The Canadian Press that he’s seriously considering a leadership bid.

But he says it’s a huge commitment at his age — and for the rest of his professional career — to either be premier or rebuild the minority Liberals if they lose the next election.

McGuinty has told his ministers that they have to step down from cabinet if they want to run.

Observers predict the leadership convention is likely to be followed by a throne speech, budget and another prorogation to allow for a general election.

McGuinty said he prorogued the legislature to allow time for his embattled government to negotiate with unions and the Progressive Conservatives on a public-sector wage freeze.

But it also brings all legislative business to a standstill and kills planned committee hearings into cancelled power plants in Oakville and Mississauga and a rare contempt motion against Bentley.

The opposition parties have repeatedly accused McGuinty of proroguing to avoid more bad publicity over the decision to cancel the gas plants, especially after a second batch of 20,000 documents was released after the premier and his ministers had insisted all relevant records had been released in September.

The second batch — following 36,000 documents released Sept. 24 to comply with a Speaker’s order — came just three days before McGuinty announced that he’d step down as premier once a new leader was chosen.

The government said its decisions to cancel the power plants in Oakville and Mississauga will cost taxpayers $230 million, but the opposition parties say it’s triple that figure or even higher.

— with files from Will Campbell.

The Liberal prorogation dance

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 19, 2012 at 4:22 PM - 0 Comments

Liberal MP Mauril Belanger is the only federal Liberal willing to openly criticize Dalton McGuinty’s prorogation.

The only Liberal MP among many interviewed by The Globe and Mail on Thursday who would say publicly that Mr. McGuinty is doing the wrong thing was Mauril Bélanger, who represents Ottawa-Vanier. “I stood out there when Mr. Harper put a padlock on the House of Commons because I didn’t think it was an appropriate thing to do,” said Mr. Bélanger. “I don’t think the Ontario Liberals should proceed in that way either. Prorogation can be used, has a use, but not indeterminately.”

Two of his caucus colleagues expressed similar frustration with the decision but did not want their names attached to the criticism. Both said there were alternatives that Mr. McGuinty should have considered. Several others refused to discuss the matter.

Former Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy, who might seek to replace Mr. McGuinty, says he doesn’t understand why the Ontario legislature needed to be prorogued. Liberal MPP Yasir Naqvi says the legislature had to be prorogued so the Liberals could “make the economy our priority.”

A centrist party that has lost its centre

By Paul Wells - Friday, October 19, 2012 at 5:00 AM - 0 Comments

Chris Young

Dalton McGuinty remains such a gifted political performer that when Ontario’s premier announced his retirement from politics, throat catching, eyes misting, it was easy to forget the context.

The context is that two recent polls put his Ontario Liberal party in third place, about 15 points behind the opposition NDP and Conservatives. McGuinty’s energy minister, Chris Bentley, stands accused by opposition MPPs of being in contempt of the legislature over an apparent failure to disclose all of the reasoning behind the cancellation of two gas-fired energy plants. There was talk of adding McGuinty and the government house leader to the list of Liberals facing contempt motions.

McGuinty won three elections in a row, but with less of a pop every time. To say the least, he had no guarantee of winning the next. It is a familiar trajectory for Liberals in Canada these days. The question is whether it can be reversed.

Let us get the good news for Canada’s assorted Liberal parties out of the way quickly. Today, parties carrying the Liberal name continue to govern in Canada’s largest and third-largest provinces by population, Ontario and British Columbia, as well as the smallest, Prince Edward Island.

Continue…

‘Contempt for parliamentary democracy’

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 1:40 PM - 0 Comments

Constitutional scholar Peter Russell condemns Dalton McGuinty’s prorogation.

To tell us, as Mr. McGuinty did Monday, that he asked the Lieutenant Governor to prorogue the legislature “to allow these discussions with our labour partners and the opposition parties to occur in an atmosphere that is free of the heightened rancour of politics in the legislature” is to show contempt for parliamentary democracy.

When parliamentary democracy is functioning, the great issues of the day are thrashed out in the legislature that the people have elected and to which the government is responsible. Debate in any parliamentary chamber can no doubt become raucous and full of rancour. But we didn’t fight two world wars for a democracy in which the governing party can shut down the elected legislature to escape the heat of parliamentary debate…

When parliamentary democracy is reduced to whatever is convenient for the governing party, we are coming very close to losing it.

Mr. Russell ventures that Mr. McGuinty’s prorogation is worse, in at least one respect, than Stephen Harper’s 2008 prorogation.

One of Mr. McGuinty’s cabinet ministers acknowledges “discomfort.”

About that prorogation

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 9:00 AM - 0 Comments

Speaking to reporters after QP yesterday, Bob Rae identifies what he is not.

Reporter: What do you make of McGuinty proroguing Parliament or the Legislature?

Rae: Well, I mean I’m not going to get into a daily commentary on events in the Ontario Legislature.  The Premier will make his decisions.  Opposition parties will make their own decision.

Reporter: But a lot of Liberals actually slammed the Harper government when they prorogued Parliament so why doesn’t that apply in this case? 

Rae: Because I’m not a daily commentator on the events in the Ontario Legislature.

History says premiers just don’t make it when they seek to be prime minister

By The Canadian Press - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 10:05 PM - 0 Comments

OTTAWA – It’s as if a curse hangs over Canadian politics, dooming any effort by a premier to make it as prime minister.

Should departing Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty decide to run for the federal Liberal leadership, he’s likely to run smack into that political quirk.

Plenty of federal MPs or cabinet ministers have become premiers. Jean Charest in Quebec; Brian Tobin in Newfoundland and Labrador; and Bob Rae in Ontario all made that transition in recent years.

And Hugh John Flemming went from New Brunswick premier in 1960 to federal cabinet minister in the John Diefenbaker Conservative government.

But moving from the premier’s office all the way to the prime minister’s office hasn’t worked in more than a century.

Sir John Thompson, prime minister from 1892 to 1894, had been premier of Nova Scotia for less than two months in 1882. Sir Charles Tupper was premier of Nova Scotia for three years from 1864 to 1867, and became prime minister briefly in 1896.

They were the last and only premiers to have made the successful transition to federal power.

It hasn’t been for lack of trying.

Between 1942 and 1976, the Conservatives chose three successful provincial premiers as party leaders: John Bracken of Manitoba, George Drew of Ontario and Robert Stanfield of Nova Scotia.

They were proven winners. As Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, points out: “When he became leader, Bracken was the longest-serving first minister in the British Empire.”

But all three fell short of the big prize. Stanfield came close, losing by a whisker to Pierre Trudeau in 1972.

The NDP tried their luck with Tommy Douglas, the legendary CCF premier of Saskatchewan. Their best showing under Douglas was 22 seats in the House of Commons.

Rae, who went from New Democrat MP to New Democrat premier in Ontario in 1990, and lost a bid for the federal Liberal leadership in 2006, says it’s an exaggeration to say there’s a curse on premiers who want to be prime minister, but it is true that making the transition is difficult.

“I still believe it’s entirely possible that someone can have served as a premier and then become prime minister, but for some reason it’s proven difficult,” he said.

Part of it may be that premiers are identified with their province, not the country as a whole.

“When you become a premier, your obligation is to the people of your province and your obligation is ultimately to defend the interests of your province, and sometimes to take positions which might seem antithetical to other regions of the country,” he said.

“That might be a factor.”

In the 1980s, for example, then Ontario premier Bill Davis was seen as a potential Tory leader. Rae said he still regrets that Davis ultimately didn’t run.

But, he acknowledges, Davis would have had some troubling baggage.

“There were regional issues at stake and his position on the Constitution, his support on energy issues, I think, made it harder for him to get support in Western Canada.

“And obviously if you want to become prime minister you need to have support in all parts of the country.”

Those problems applied in reverse to Alberta’s Peter Lougheed, also seen by some as a potential federal Conservative leader.

Wiseman said, however, that premiers have tended not to seek a federal leadership. “One of the things that’s happened here is that we haven’t had many premiers that have run.”

It’s been 40 years since Stanfield. In between, Davis, Lougheed, Tobin, and Bernard Lord and Frank McKenna of New Brunswick, were all touted at times as potential federal leadership candidates, for one party or another, but backed away.

In the United States, governorships are seen as stepping stones to the presidency. Most recently, it worked for George W. Bush of Texas, Bill Clinton of Arkansas, Ronald Reagan of California and Jimmy Carter of Georgia.

Wiseman said that has more to do with the American presidential system, with its state primaries and state delegations that can be important for governors, especially those from large states.

Canadian premiers may have more power than the average governor, but the electoral systems are different.

Despite the historical record, Rae said, things can change for premiers who want to be prime minister.

“It is not a hard and fast rule and we will one day, I predict, see the rule broken, but it’s certainly proven to be a pretty enduring tendency in our national politics.”

Running away from the legislature

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 10:44 AM - 0 Comments

Peter Loewen condemns Dalton McGuinty’s use of prorogation.

Is McGuinty’s comportment worse than Harper’s? Almost certainly. The Premier has announced he is proroguing the legislature for a substantially longer period of time. Yet he insists that he will govern. Conveniently, he will do so without the hassle of securing opposition support. In the meantime, he will avoid scrutiny over decisions on the energy file that appear worse by the day. And he will step down from the government before the legislature returns. When that will happen remains undefined.

This is not merely a resetting of the clock. It is a wholesale flight from responsibility.

Similarly, Mark Jarvis sees an unfortunate trend.

The premier’s tone and message is reminiscent of Premier Christy Clark, who earlier this fall cancelled the fall term of the British Columbian legislature, leaving an open question as to whether or not it would sit at all before the scheduled provincial election in May. On the opposite coast, the Newfoundland and Labrador legislature reopened this March after having only sat for a total of just 33 days in the previous 14 months.

These actions violate the basic premise of responsible government: that the house or legislature, as the case may be, is actually in session in order to fulfill its fundamental responsibilities: to review government legislation, to scrutinize government administration and to extend or withdraw confidence as it deems fit. These developments should be disconcerting to us all.

Pundit round up: Who will replace the Ontario premier?

By Emily Senger - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 9:32 AM - 0 Comments

The dust has settled after Ontario Premier Dalton’s McGuinty’s surprise announcement that he is stepping down to make way for a leadership race and pundits are weighing in on who will lead the Liberals and why the premier left.

What’s next?

The Globe and Mail’s Adam Radwanski pontificates on who will be the next in line. Kathleen Wynne, current minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Aboriginal Affairs and former education minister, could be a good choice to appeal to unions. Health Minister Deb Matthews is a likely candidate, but she has been dogged by ongoing problems with Ornge air ambulance. To represent business interests, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan would be an excellent candidate, but he has vocally said he isn’t interested in the position. Or, will it be someone new? Say, current Liberal Party President Yasir Naqvi, or another up-and-coming MPP.

Toronto Star Queen’s Park reporters Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie had their own list by Monday morning: “As of Monday, top Liberal leadership contenders are embattled Energy Minister Chris Bentley, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, Children and Youth Services Minister Eric Hoskins, Health Minister Deb Matthews, Training Colleges and Universities Minister Glen Murray, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Charles Sousa, Municipal Affairs Minister Kathleen Wynne, and party president Yasir Naqvi, the Ottawa Centre MPP.”

Also at the Toronto Star, Tim Harper points out that there are seven current, or upcoming, Liberal leadership races in the country at the provincial and national levels, pointing to a party very much in flux. “The McGuinty resignation means the top Liberal job now seems to be open everywhere, including the two largest Canadian provinces and the federal level.”

The National Post’s Kelly McParland writes that McGuinty leaves a dubious legacy for whoever the next leader may be. He points to an “economy in lousy shape,” a deficit triple what it was when the premier came into power and souring relations with unions that once supported the Liberals. ”Whoever the Liberals ultimately select to handle this mountain of messes in Mr. McGuinty’s place will have to wonder whether it constitutes a blessing, a vote of confidence, or a sentence to the firing squad.”

Toronto Star Queen’s Park columnist Martin Regg Cohn also says it will be a tough slog for whoever wins this winter’s Liberal leadership race. “For the winning candidate, it will merely be a prelude to the inevitable demise of this Liberal minority government and a spring election that will turn Ontario upside down.”

The Toronto Sun editorial, however, says that McGuinty’s departure bodes well for the Liberals. “That said, by resigning now, McGuinty has given the Liberals a fighting chance for political revival, given that he became the lightning rod for the public’s anger at his government.”

Why goodbye?

Ottawa Citizen columnist Joanne Chianello writes that McGuinty was often a surprising premier and this decision is just another surprise in his career. She points to the southern Ontario gas plant cancellations and ugly labour disputes as likely reasons for the premier’s hasty departure. “He likely saw the moment as his last chance to depart before fellow Liberals began to second-guess him as they head into an election the Liberals look hard-pressed to win,” she writes.

In a guest column for the Ottawa Citizen, University of Toronto political science professor Peter Loewen says McGuinty’s decision to suspend legislature is “no way to end a career in politics.” Loewen notes that the premier can now negotiate with teachers without scrutiny, and he also avoids all the criticism that has dogged Energy Minister Chris Bentley about the cancelled gas plants. “Such accountability is not a mere inconvenience, nor is it some nicety. It is the core of our system of responsible government. McGuinty considers it an nuisance to be ignored in his final months,” he writes.

National Post columnist Matt Gurney points the finger at the power-plant scandal as the real reason for the premier’s hasty departure. “No matter what Mr. McGuinty said, and what Liberal spin doctors will say in the days to come, the truth of the matter is that Mr. McGuinty stepped down because his party’s power plant shenanigans simply weren’t something that could be explained away.”

And, in a guest column in The Globe and Mail, former Liberal advisor John Duffy writes that the premier saw that he needed to use his “choose change” campaign slogan one last time to move a stalled legislature forward. ”The minority parliament elected last October 11 had degenerated from uncertainty to unworkability,” Duffy writes.

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Three front pages on the premier’s bombshell

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 6:22 AM - 0 Comments

Three front pages on McGuinty’s bombshell

Storified by Maclean’s Magazine · Tue, Oct 16 2012 03:20:56

Opposition upset Ontario legislature adjourned until Liberals pick new leader

By The Canadian Press - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 6:07 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Premier Dalton McGuinty’s surprise decisions to resign and adjourn the Ontario legislature until the Liberals pick a new leader could throw the province’s political scene into uncertainty for months.

Adjourning the legislature will allow for a “cooling off period” and give the Liberals time to negotiate with unions and the opposition parties on a wage freeze for nearly 500,000 public sector workers, McGuinty said on Monday.

Continue…

‘Premier Dad’ offers advice to successor: ‘Don’t screw it up’

By The Canadian Press - Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 6:06 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – For a man who became one of Ontario’s most successful premiers, Dalton McGuinty never seemed to be destined for the history books.

When he first arrived at the Ontario legislature in 1990 as a Liberal MP, few took much notice of the lanky lawyer swimming in an ill-fitting double-breasted suit, much less peg him as a future leader of the province.

Continue…

Backstage at McGuinty’s announcement: ‘Would you like the hug shot?’

By Mika Rekai - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 11:33 PM - 0 Comments

Leaning over the Queen’s Park security desk at 7:30 on Monday night, a reporter is rifling through his pockets.

“I have my credentials in here somewhere,” he says as he puts on reading glasses. “I’m just here to help my colleague. I had to run over.”

Continue…

Political reaction to Dalton McGuinty’s resignation

By Aaron Hutchins - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 10:10 PM - 0 Comments

Political reaction to Dalton McGuinty’s resignation

Storified by Maclean’s Magazine · Mon, Oct 15 2012 19:08:51

VIDEO: Four key moments from McGuinty’s current term

By macleans.ca - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 9:43 PM - 0 Comments

Dalton McGuinty won a third term as premier on Oct. 6, 2011. Here are some key moments that followed that narrow victory:

1. ‘It’s time to move forward together.’
Dalton McGuinty delivers victory address after winning minority on Oct. 6, 2011.

2. ‘This is about Ontario’s economic livelihood.’
‘McGuinty threatens to call summer election, June 2012

3. ‘It is a budget that’s designed to eliminate the deficit’
McGuinty defends Ontario’s 2012 budget, June 2012

4. ‘My thoughts and hopes have been with you.’
McGuinty visits Elliott Lake after shopping mall collapse, June 2012

Dalton McGuinty for Liberal leader?

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 8:57 PM - 0 Comments

Joan Bryden says a campaign team is already in place if Dalton McGuinty decides he wants to run for the federal Liberal leadership.

Asked just now about any interest in the Liberal leadership, Mr. McGuinty would only say, “I don’t have any plans.”

Is premier ready to jump into federal Liberal leadership race?

By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 8:40 PM - 0 Comments

OTTAWA – Is Dalton McGuinty about to jump from the provincial fat into the federal fire?

With Monday’s surprise announcement that he’s stepping down as premier of Ontario, McGuinty is suddenly free to run for the federal Liberal leadership if he chooses.

Continue…

Stephen Harper on Dalton McGuinty’s resignation

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 8:37 PM - 0 Comments

A statement from the Prime Minister on Dalton McGuinty’s resignation.

“On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to thank Premier Dalton McGuinty for his contributions to Ontario and to Canada during his time as leader of the province.

“Our two governments have worked together to serve Ontarians, from implementing Canada’s Economic Action Plan to keeping the auto industry in the province of Ontario, and I salute Mr. McGuinty’s many years of dedicated public service.

 “On a personal level, I extend to Mr. McGuinty my very best wishes for all his future endeavours.”

From a former Ontario premier to a soon-to-be-former Ontario premier

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 8:06 PM - 0 Comments

A statement from interim Liberal leader Bob Rae on the resignation of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

“For the last twenty two years, Mr. McGuinty has shown a deep and abiding commitment to public service and public life. In his nine years as Premier, Mr. McGuinty has made Ontario a global leader in education by introducing full-day kindergarten and by making post-secondary education more accessible and affordable than ever before. 

Premier McGuinty took a tough stand against bullies in our schoolyards and made schools safer for our children.

Since 2003, Ontarians have improved access to family doctors, home and long-term care – all thanks to Premier McGuinty’s leadership.

On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary caucus, I want to thank Mr. McGuinty for his exceptional service to the province of Ontario.”

The text of Mr. McGuinty’s letter to Liberal supporters is here. Paul Wells’ analysis is here.

Dalton McGuinty and everything after

By Paul Wells - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 7:59 PM - 0 Comments

Of the last three changes of the Ontario government’s party stripe, two happened when a long-serving premier was replaced by an untested successor who promptly got his clock cleaned by the opposition.

Frank Miller replaced Bill Davis in 1985 and lasted four months as Ontario Progressive Conservative leader before losing 18 seats to the Liberals and NDP and, after those parties presented a confidence pact, finally losing power to David Peterson’s Liberals. Ernie Eves lasted more than a year as Mike Harris’s successor before losing, to Dalton McGuinty, in 2003.

It is always attractive to replace leaders when a party is in trouble but the gambit fails more often than it succeeds. A party keeps the problems it had before, while giving up the very considerable advantages of incumbency. It tells voters who have been in the habit of supporting the party because they grew to like the old leader that they are now free to look around. They often do. At the federal level, John Turner could tell you about that, and Kim Campbell, and, although he did win his first election as leader, Paul Martin.

The Ontario Liberals are electorally weakened by Dalton McGuinty’s departure, but to some extent that is none of his problem. They were electorally strengthened — more than they must have thought possible when he won the leadership after starting in 4th place at the 1996 convention — by his 16 years as leader. Continue…

‘I am not making any plans,’ McGuinty says after announcing resignation

By The Canadian Press - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 7:52 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Beaten down by a series of scandals, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced late Monday he was stepping down as Liberal leader and adjourning the legislature because his minority government can’t pass legislation to freeze the wages of nearly half a million public sector workers.

After 16 years as party leader and nine as premier, it’s time for new blood, McGuinty told a surprised Liberal caucus as his wife Terri and brother Brendan looked on.

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Dalton McGuinty in his own words: ‘This is the right time’

By macleans.ca - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 7:43 PM - 0 Comments

Text of an email that went out to Liberal supporters from Dalton McGuinty earlier this evening: 

Sixteen years ago, when I was elected leader of our Party, the Ontario Liberals had won exactly one election in 50 years.

We couldn’t do anything to help families because we couldn’t win an election.

That’s changed.

We’ve won three elections in a row.

Continue…

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty resigns, prorogues legislature

By macleans.ca - Monday, October 15, 2012 at 6:54 PM - 0 Comments

Ontario Premier McGuinty resigns, prorogues legislature

At an emergency caucus meeting on Monday evening, the Premier of Ontario made two surprise announcements in this order: 1. The Legislature has been prorogued. 2. He is resigning as premier and party leader. Reporters and politicians were caught off guard by the announcements:

Storified by Maclean’s Magazine · Mon, Oct 15 2012 15:55:06