McGuinty will stay on until a successor is found.
Worse still, there is talk he may run for the federal Liberal leadership meaning even people outside of this province will not be safe from him.
Much has been made of McGuinty’s record with some fawning tributes and others offering the kind of begrudging praise departing politicians often seem to get regardless of their accomplishments.
As someone that covered McGuinty as an opposition MPP, as my own local MPP and as premier, let me say I’m not impressed.
True, McGuinty is a skilled politician. I’m never sure anyone really means that as a compliment though. The man is charming – I once remember Bill Carroll, then a talk radio host in Toronto, excited at the idea of taking on Premier McGuinty in a one-on-one in studio interview. Bill thought he’d be tough on him. Watch it I warned, the man is a charmer, and he is disarming.
I was right, Bill was shocked at how likeable McGuinty could make himself to most people that met him.
He’s one of the few politicians I have made speechless when I called him out at a news conference, exposed his lie about how a hospital would be funded. He looked down at his shoes, paused and said next question. He didn’t have much of an answer because he was lying to the people.
And at the end of the day that is McGuinty’s biggest failing.
He promised not to raise taxes and then whacked Ontarians with the biggest tax hike in provincial history. He also tried to say it wasn’t a tax, a judge hearing an appeal of the health premium would later rule otherwise.
He and his government have done this over and over again. For a while there my test of whether the McGuinty government would actually do something was whether Dalton initially said he wouldn’t do it.
Flip and flop. That was Dalton.
Sure all politicians do this, but McGuinty made an art of it. He had a style closer to American governors than past premiers – that might be due to the training he took from Obama mentor and campaign big shot David Axelrod.
McGuinty also came with a bare knuckles team that took no prisoners and accepted nothing less than loyalty. Stephen Harper has this reputation but trust me, he has nothing on the McGuinty clan.
In my view Premier Dad left when he did because he was finally caught. The opposition parties were onto a scandal he couldn’t get out of – the moving of power plants at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars to the taxpayer, just to save some Liberal seats.
If McGuinty had stayed on, he would have suffered the same humiliation as Jean Charest who went down in scandal in Quebec. Better to leave like Chretien and let the next guy deal with the mess.
McGuinty isn’t gone yet but the checks and balances on him set out in our Westminster system of Parliamentary democracy are all gone.
McGuinty has shut down the legislature until his party finds a new leader but he also said he wants a freer hand to negotiate labour deals.
“I met with the lieutenant-governor earlier today and asked that we prorogue the house so that we can pursue both discussions, both tracks, in a way that is free of the heightened rancour that has sadly, too frequently, characterized our legislature of late.”
Let me unpack this for you, Mr. McGuinty. Those political games you talk about are the outcome of a minority Parliament. You don’t have a majority, you need their support, but rather than seek consensus you are taking your ball and going home.
You want a free hand to sign big contracts without having to be questioned on it. What you are engaging in is taxation without representation. You want to commit taxpayer money without our representatives having a say in the people’s place, in our Parliament.
I think you should leave sooner before you damage democracy even more.
And that’s the Byline.
Categories: Byline
It is a shame that our Parliamentary system allows Prorogation to be used when clearly acts have occurred which are criminal in nature.
At the very least those who have committed the offences should be booted out at once and stripped of any titles, debarred from practicing Law if they are part of the Law Society etc.
In other words follow a similar path as was used to kick out Nixon in the USA. Shame on you Dalton McGuinty.
What a mess! I am sure thisis just the tip of the iceberg. When I read articles about possible successors being Deb Matthews or Smitherman the hair oon my neck stand up. Same if McGuinty thought he would run for Liberal leader federally.
What is wrong with these people who would even consider some of the most arrogant and wasteful (I’m being nice here) as leaders?
People are in denial or they’re thinking the same thing I am.
i know that your local CAS will be dancing on their desks over the prorogue, anything that delays the inevitable passage of a bill to allow the Ombudsman oversight on their criminal activities is cause for celebration among these white slavers. im sure CUPE will reward the Fiberals for this loyalty.
“McGuinty leaves his mess for someone else to clean up”
Yep, how true. He’s just like the stray dog who dumps on your lawn and trots off with a grin on his mug knowing he’s left you with a stinking mess to deal with while he goes on to the next meal and the next lawn.
Simply thankyou on behalf of rural communities across Ontario attempting to deal with the social injustice of forced industrial wind development. Being trapped in the vicious circle of having your health and home value harmed against your will and with no remedy available is McGinty’s legacy here.
It’s hard to find a political party that doesn’t leave a mess behind when the crap hits the fan. Bob rae and the NDP screwed up Harriis and the PC’s said we didn’t have a debt but we did a huge hidden one and now Mcguinty and the Libs with all their corruption.But then all politicians are the same nobody really cares about the average person oh yeah they spout all the crap about hard working families and family values but really the only values any want or have is protect their ungodly salaries and pensions.Nobody comes across after Mc Guinty as a worse political dodo than Hudak(WHO DAT)
Lets forget all this crap about right and left which most of us except pundits left a long time a go and start governing pragmatically like Bill Davis or Peter Loughheed Bob Stanfield and Tommy Douglas.
Nobody has a vision beyond the next election
The biggest question of all: how could any informed and intelligent taxpayer vote for this gang the second time? The answer is– only half of them even vote and I leave the rest to your opinion of the competence and abilities of the taxpayers.
There is always Justin Trudeau to run as premier or He can mosr certainly bring Ontario back on her feet. The huge debt facing Ontario will disappear how? that’s for the liberals to know and for you to find out.
Or, CBC and the ontario reporters, they are very much in bed with Dalton and his cabinet minister to keep their scandals a secret from the general public.
If Ontarians are that keen of the state of their province do yourselves a favour, ask the msm (cbc ctv global) why Dalton was left to do all this without screaming it across the headlines in ‘front pages’. These reporters who covered-up Dalton’s mess OWE YOU AN EXPLAINATION AND NOW.
Also, check all previous newspapers’ front page headlines for any of Ornge Ambulance mess, green energy scandals and more. you might find out that there arn’t any headline news on them.
No splash news that Dalton prorogues legislature.
Question is: ” would Ontarians still vote for Dalton had they known of the scandals; the have-not province which he has put Ontario in and putting Ontarians into a deep debt. Would you still would vote for him?”
Just as much Dalton lied to his people is just as much the media lied with him and covered his mess from Ontarians.
Dalton prorogues for five months and CBC talks about NHL. See, anything to protect liberals.
Some fed liberal mps still owe thousands of dollars to the Elections Canada and the msm CBC CTV ETC talk about- you guessed it other matters again to protect the liberals
I have no respect for a politician who has wasted the time of their constituents. He stood for his post, and now that he sees another opportunity (Federal Liberal leadership), he’s thrown the province into further turmoil to pursue personal aspiration.
Did he bother to tell his constituency that this particular job might lure him away?
Now he’s still collecting a pay cheque even though he isn’t doing his job. Sweet deal if he can get it.
My advice is that the voters of Ontario turf this loser out in a very substantial way.
Dalt McGuinty should be arrested and charged with corruption and highway robbery of Taxpayers money. That $3-billion might now be lying in some off-shore account in the Cayman Islands with McGunty’s name on it for his pension.
Hey the people voted him in! Get out and vote! Make change happen.