 | Dalton McGuinty has been Premier of the Province ofOntario for over nine years. As the Premier ends his time in office,
it is important to look back and reflect on what his legacy is to the
people of Ontario. I can sum this up in four words, "It's Mike Harris'
fault!" | |
South Dundas - January 11, 2013 - Dalton McGuinty has been Premier of the Province ofOntario for over nine years. As the Premier ends his time in office,
it is important to look back and reflect on what his legacy is to the
people of Ontario. I can sum this up in four words, "It's Mike Harris'
fault!"
Since McGuinty's ascension to power, the people have heard the phrase,
"It's Mike Harris' fault" over and over again. When the first budget
was tabled by then Finance Minister Greg Sorbara and Ontario had
plunged into deficit, we were told that it was Mike Harris' fault.
After McGuinty on the pledge he signed during the 2003 campaign with
the Canadian Taxpayers Federation to not raise taxes, and he levied
the single largest tax increase in Ontario history with the Health
Care Premium (not a tax), it was Mike Harris' fault. Who is to blame
for E-Health going over budget and costing the taxpayers over $1.1
Billion? Mike Harris. Who is responsible for the Green Energy Act,
overpaying for Hydro power? Mike Harris. What happened at Ornge Air
Ambulance? Mike Harris, of course. Mike Harris was the reason for the
2010 "Eco-Tax" boondoggle and for the HST. Ontario turning from a
have, to a have-not province in the last nine years? Mike Harris. Why
do we have instability with public service unions and why are teachers
walking off their jobs in protest? Mike Harris.
Isn't it amazing how a retired Premier, gone 11 years, can hold such
sway and power over Queens Park to this day and is the root cause of
all of our strife?
Here's the issue though. Mike Harris isn't the root-cause of all evils
in Ontario since 1995. Yes, Harris had issues, and caused many issues.
There were even a few working in his cabinet who would have been
better employed fetching hockey sticks for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But all that ails Ontario now is not Harris' fault, it's Dalton
McGuinty's. Why? Dalton McGuinty is the one who's run this province
for the last nine years, and many including this writer will say even
that he's run it straight into the ground. Broken tax pledges, health
care premiums, eco-tax, signing on to the HST, the Micro-Fit Energy
Program and Green Energy. Record budget deficits that make Bob Rae
look like a choir boy. Industry fleeing Ontario, mythical eco-jobs,
E-Health, Ornge Air Ambulance and moving electricity plants on a whim
to save Liberal seats.
And then, there are the teachers. I've written about this before that
I sympathize with the teachers in that they were sold a bill of goods
with McGuinty and how the Premier has shown that even contract law
does not matter, not when you can change the law. But where I don't
sympathize is that the teachers helped in 2011 to keep him in office.
And now they, like every other hard working Ontarian who has had money
pulled out of their pocket by a McGuinty policy, are reaping what has
been sown. McGuinty's true legacy boils down to one simple word,
arrogance.
In his dealings with the teachers, he has taken the same tactic Pierre
Trudeau did during the FLQ Crisis. "Just watch me," said Trudeau.
McGuinty has stated time and time again that if the teachers don't
like what the government has done, take them to court. Just watch him.
McGuinty's condescending tone of governance, "Premier Dad" or "father
knows best", is sheer, um-embroiled, elitist, arrogance
In 11 years time I hope that whomever is Premier of Ontario,
regardless of political stripe, will look back at the issues caused
between October 2003 and January 2013 and say these four words, "It
was Dalton's Fault."
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