News   Mar 28, 2024
 1.4K     3 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 688     2 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 942     0 

Premier Dalton McGuinty resigns

G

gabe

Guest
Premier Dalton McGuinty has announced he is resigning.

McGuinty, who has led the Liberals since 1996 and been premier since 2003, stunned his caucus Monday night announcing it’s time for “renewal†at the helm of the party.

With his wife, Terri, in attendance and his closest campaign aides looking on, the premier said he was proroguing the Ontario legislature immediately.

That will allow time for the Grits to organize a leadership convention.

The move comes just one year after McGuinty won a third term as premier but saw his Liberals reduced to a minority government in the last election.

Minority governing and a sluggish economy have not been kind to the premier – he has been forced to go to war with teachers’ unions, once a key constituency, as his government imposed a wage freeze.

Fighting his emotions, the premier said he would stay on as Ottawa South MPP until the next election.

Among those mentioned as possible 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, and party president Yasir Naqvi, the Ottawa Centre MPP.
http://www.thestar.com/breakingnews/article/1271913--premier-dalton-mcguinty-resigns
 
I wouldn't mind Glen Murray taking the job.
 
While I don't want a return to Harris, I won't miss McGuinty's boondoggles of eHealth, Ornge and costly power plant moves, not to mention taking us to massive new heights of deficit spending. With all these hundreds of millions lost, they could have kept the rail link to Northern Ontario open (yes, a costly subsidy..but the north will never pay its full way), or done so many other good deeds.
 
This was good timing. Hudak isn't trusted by most Ontarians and the power plant problem would have probably taken McGuinty out in an election that the NDP and Conservatives were rubbing their hands to call. A new leader will be a fresh face and a new beginning to move the Liberal agenda forward.

Ontarians can surely appreciate the turnaround in education and hospital wait times and I think that most voters think that Ontario is headed in the right direction, though their dislike of McGuinty himself has been growing because of few big scandals.

I'd love to have Glen Murray as Premier. I had hoped that he were running for Mayor of Toronto but this is better. It's too bad about Chris Bentley, he would have made a great Premier. But if he runs as the Liberal's choice, the election will be all about the power plant just like Smitherman's message was taken over by e-Health even though he was running for Mayor.

It'll be interesting to see who declares their intentions because the Liberals need to move quickly to put a new leader in place to get Ontarians used to the name and face well before an election so that they can use the incumbent advantage.

If the Conservatives are smart, they'll also call a leadership convention at the same time because Ontarians have already rejected Hudak twice -- three times if you count the recent by-elections.
 
I'd love to have Glen Murray as Premier.

From what I've heard from my Liberal staffer friend Murray and McGuinty we're not on the greatest of terms, perhaps indicated by his junior level portfolios. I can imagine Murray wants a higher public profile.

Other potential candidates that come to mind:

Gerard Kennedy
George Smitherman
Kathleen Wynne
Deb Matthews
 
While I don't want a return to Harris, I won't miss McGuinty's boondoggles of eHealth, Ornge and costly power plant moves, not to mention taking us to massive new heights of deficit spending. With all these hundreds of millions lost, they could have kept the rail link to Northern Ontario open (yes, a costly subsidy..but the north will never pay its full way), or done so many other good deeds.

It will be interesting to see if the dishonesty and corruption of the provincial Liberals will catch up to them as it did with their federal cousins. Although Chretien won 3 elections, he is remembered as the leader during the adscam scandal, and that has been the party legacy for the past 10 years. McGuinty's legacy could well be all the lies from the no new tax promise (Health premium), to the broken promise on Autism funding, to the current batch of scandals (e-health, ornge, wind, gas plant). The federal Liberal took maybe 5 years to fall. Maybe the provincial Liberals are 1 or 2 years into their fall.

I also wonder how long this session will be prorogued. Harper was severely blamed for prorogation of about two months. I hope that this one is of similar length and they resume sitting in January.
 
If the Conservatives are smart, they'll also call a leadership convention at the same time because Ontarians have already rejected Hudak twice -- three times if you count the recent by-elections.


That's what i was thinking. Liberals better run a really superb candidate or Andrea Horwath better step her game up because no way would Tim Hudak be a good Premier.
 
It's unfortunate to hear that Premier McGuinty is stepping down because he's proven quite capable of achieving progressive policies while being able to play politics effectively to stay in power. I fear that his replacement will be another Ernie Eves or Paul Martin--forgettable and not very capable politically, ending an era of political domination for a party and allowing the opposition to rise up.
 
I don't think Hudak can win. He ran in an election when the Liberal brand was unpopular nationwide and in the midst of provincial scandals and lost -- and did so convincingly. The Liberals were 1 seat away from a majority!

I bet the PC's are kicking themselves right now for keeping Hudak who Ontarians don't like and losing the adversary who they were building ammunition against recently. They had an opportunity to call a PC leadership convention after the by-elections and they missed it.

I like the idea of Gerrard Kennedy. He's a likeable, experienced politician and popular in Toronto so he can help keep the ridings that are keeping the PCs out.
 
I don't think Hudak can win. He ran in an election when the Liberal brand was unpopular nationwide and in the midst of provincial scandals and lost -- and did so convincingly. The Liberals were 1 seat away from a majority!

I bet the PC's are kicking themselves right now for keeping Hudak who Ontarians don't like and losing the adversary who they were building ammunition against recently. They had an opportunity to call a PC leadership convention after the by-elections and they missed it.

I like the idea of Gerrard Kennedy. He's a likeable, experienced politician and popular in Toronto so he can help keep the ridings that are keeping the PCs out.

I like Kennedy too, but I can't shake the memory of the bomb he dropped on the federal Liberals the day in Montreal he handed the leadership to Stephane Dion. We know the aftermath of that.
 
Ontarians have already rejected Hudak twice

FWIW, no rookie party leader has won an Ontario election since 1985 (when all three leaders were rookies). Omit 1985, and you have to go back to 1971 to see a rookie victory. You might say it takes Ontarians a while to warm up to someone.
 
While I don't want a return to Harris, I won't miss McGuinty's boondoggles of eHealth, Ornge and costly power plant moves, not to mention taking us to massive new heights of deficit spending. With all these hundreds of millions lost, they could have kept the rail link to Northern Ontario open (yes, a costly subsidy..but the north will never pay its full way), or done so many other good deeds.

I agree. McGuinty leaves with a mixed record, IMO. There were some good intentions there and some good policies instituted. There was never any personal scandals or any major corruption that we know of. But some of the boondoggles - especially much of what Smitherman touched: energy and health - are unforgivable as the government's attitude to Northern Ontario. Let's also not forget the secret G20 laws. Good politicans thrown under the bus for Smitherman-era politics - Caplan and Bentley, and the use of Harperist tactics such as prorogation are objectionable.

I see that there's talk that Smitherman might run. That would be a disaster. I'd be comfortable with Wynne or Kennedy, both of whom would bring the fresh blood the government needs.
 
Last edited:
If I were to predict within the current crop of contenders so far in consideration, I'd say that Wynne has it in the bag. I'd like her as a Premier but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with her chances of winning in a general election. Ontarians don't seem to like to elect women as leaders. It's strange but its a fact.

Perhaps with 2 women running against 1 man would change up the dynamic but Toronto's transit future depends too much on the Liberals or the NDP staying in power. It'd be a disaster for TO if Hudak became Premier. Transit would be set back once again for another generation and the situation is already critical.
 

Back
Top