Dalton McGuinty

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Dalton James Patrick McGuinty
The Hon. Dalton McGuinty
24th Premier of Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office  October 23, 2003
Preceded by	Ernie Eves
Born	July 19, 1955 Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Terri McGuinty
Religion	Roman Catholic

Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr., MPP (born July 19, 1955, in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian lawyer and politician and, since October 23, 2003, Premier of Ontario. McGuinty is generally regarded as a moderate fiscal conservative. He has stated that his top objective is drawing more international investment to Ontario, and has targeted a balanced provincial budget by 2008-09 year. Although his government raised personal taxes in its first budget, the budget also included a plan to eliminate the province's tax on the capital of corporations in order to encourage investment.

McGuinty holds progressive views on social issues. He supports abortion rights, and endorsed equal marriage for same-sex couples during the 2003 election. In early 2005, his government passed legislation confirming the legal status same-sex marriage in Ontario.

McGuinty is the Ottawa-born bilingual son of a francophone mother and an anglophone father. He is married to high school sweetheart Terri McGuinty, an elementary school teacher. The couple have four children: Carleen, Dalton, Liam and Connor. Since 2004, his brother David has represented the riding of Ottawa South in the Canadian House of Commons.

He is the twenty-fourth premier of Ontario, and only the second Roman Catholic to hold this office. The first was John Sandfield Macdonald, who served as premier from 1867 to 1871.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Member of Provincial Parliament 3 Provincial leadership 4 First term as opposition leader 5 Second term as opposition leader 6 First year in office 7 Second year 8 Third year 9 Fourth Year 10 Toward the 2007 election 11 Trivia 12 See also 13 Reference 14 External links

[edit] Early life

The son of politician and professor Dalton McGuinty Sr. and full-time nurse Elizabeth McGuinty, McGuinty grew up in a large Irish Canadian Catholic family with nine brothers and sisters. He studied biology and earned a B.Sc. from McMaster University and a law degree from the University of Ottawa before practising law in Ottawa.

[edit] Member of Provincial Parliament

His father, Dalton Sr., served as Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Ottawa South until his death in 1990. An often-told anecdote relates that Dalton Sr.'s ten children met to decide who among them should run to replace their father and selected Dalton Jr, "since they already had 2000 signs with that name on it in the garage." Dalton Jr. won the Ontario Liberal Party's nomination for Ottawa South for the provincial election of 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as the MPP for his father's former riding.

The Liberal government of David Peterson was unexpectedly defeated by the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) in this election, and McGuinty was the only rookie Liberal MPP elected. In opposition, McGuinty served as the Liberal Party's critic for Energy, Environment and Colleges and Universities. He was re-elected in Ottawa South in the 1995 provincial election without much difficulty.

[edit] Provincial leadership

McGuinty's supporters in his 1996 leadership bid included John Manley, Murray Elston, and Robert Chiarelli. He was elected leader at the party's 1996 leadership convention in a surprise victory over front-runner Gerard Kennedy. McGuinty thus became the Leader of the Opposition at Queen's Park.

Kennedy, a former head of Toronto's Daily Bread food bank, was popular on the progressive-wing of the party, while McGuinty built his core support on its establishment and pro-business right-wing which some nicknamed the "anything-but-Kennedy movement". McGuinty was fourth on the first and second ballots but he was not far behind third-place finisher Dwight Duncan. He then overtook Duncan and Joe Cordiano on the third and fourth ballots, respectively, receiving the support of their delegates to win a fifth ballot over Kennedy. McGuinty holds the distinction of being the only Canadian party leader to win his party's leadership after finishing fourth on the first ballot.

[edit] First term as opposition leader

McGuinty's first term in opposition was difficult. He was often criticized for lacking charisma and being uncomfortable in the media scrums, and was described as ineffective by the province's tabloid press. Although Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris was not especially strong in media relations, the general consensus was that McGuinty was the more awkward of the two. The governing Progressive Conservatives played up McGuinty's low profile by defining him as "not up to the job" in a series of television advertisements.

McGuinty's management of the Liberal Party was also criticized. He was forced to reverse himself on a decision to hire his brother Brendan (later the chief of staff to Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli) as principal secretary. His decision to replace former leadership rival Joe Cordiano with Gerry Phillips as Deputy Leader in 1998 angered some in the province's Italian community.

Generally strong economic growth in the province, helped re-elect Mike Harris and the PC Party in the provincial election of 1999. McGuinty's performance in this campaign was widely criticized, particularly in its early weeks. He appeared unfamiliar with his party's platform in the buildup to the election, and by all accounts delivered a poor performance in the televised leader's debate, being unable to defend several first term gaffes^[1]. He was also criticized when, in response to a question by late CITY-TV journalist Colin Vaughan, he described Mike Harris as a "thug".

McGuinty was nevertheless able to rally his party in the election's closing days and drew 40% of the vote for the Liberals, their second-best performance in fifty years. The Liberal Party also increased its seat total in the Legislature from 30 to 36. McGuinty himself faced a surprisingly difficult re-election in Ottawa South, but defeated his Progressive Conservative opponent by about 3,000 votes.

Ontario's public-sector unions generally supported the Liberal Party in this election, having withdrawn their traditional support for the New Democratic Party after Bob Rae's administration and its decision to override collective agreements through the "Social Contract".

[edit] Second term as opposition leader

McGuinty's second term as opposition leader was more successful than his first. With the Liberals consolidated as the primary opposition to Harris's Progressive Conservatives, McGuinty was able to present his party as the "government in waiting". He hired a more skilled group of advisors and drafted former cabinet minister Greg Sorbara as party president. McGuinty also rebuilt the party's fundraising operation, launching the Ontario Liberal Fund. In preparation for the 2003 election, the party adopted a platform that emphasized lowering class sizes in schools, hiring more nurses, increasing environmental protections, and "holding the line" on taxes. McGuinty also made an effort to improve his debating skills, and received coaching from Democratic Party trainers in the United States.

McGuinty's chances of forming government were improved by a number of controversies involving the governing PC Party, including the fallout over the shooting death of native protester Dudley George at Ipperwash, the deaths of seven people from tainted water in Walkerton, and the decision to provide tax credits to parents who sent their children to private schools. Harris resigned in the fall of 2001, following the then-Premier's high profile testimony at the Walkerton Inquiry and the PC government's defeat in a key by-election in Vaughan—King—Aurora.

Harris's successor, Ernie Eves, received a short boost in the polls from his attempts to move the PC Party to the centre. However, Eves was never able to gain control of the political agenda, and appeared indecisive and reactive on issues ranging from electricity restructuring to taxes. In 2003, Eves reversed his move to the centre and campaigned on a right-wing agenda.

The 2003 North America blackout gave Eves increased exposure and rallied some support for his party. He called an election immediately after the blackout, and polling showed that the previous Liberal lead had narrowed to a tie in the first week. The rise in Tory support was short-lived. The Liberals took a commanding lead in the campaign's second week, and remained in that position for until election day.

Voters regarded the Progressive Conservative government as unnecessarily confrontational and divisive, and some of the Liberal Party's strength was based in a promise to change the combative tone of government. The Progressive Conservatives ultimately played into this strategy by running a series of poorly-conceived negative advertisements against McGuinty throughout the campaign. Poor response to the negative advertisements created frustration among the PC staffers, and was followed by a news release being issued by the PC campaign that referred to McGuinty as an "evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet".

In contrast, the Liberals ran an organized campaign. The party's advertising remained positive and focused on the selling the merits of changing governments and the Liberal leader's readiness for office. McGuinty undertook a series of well-choreographed events, including signing a taxpayer's protection pledge not to raise taxes, and appearing on the popular sports show "Off the Record", where he received an endorsement from Canadian Idol winner Ryan Malcolm. At the same time, caucus members like George Smitherman carried the party's negative message in critiquing the PC Party record.

McGuinty was able to maintain his party's standing in the polls in the last stages, preventing Eves from making up ground during the leader's debate. On election day, the Liberal were elected to a majority government, winning 72 of the Ontario Legislature's 103 seats. The PC Party fell to 24 seats, while the NDP lost official party status in the legislature. (It regained that status a few months later by winning a by-election.)

Following the election, the McGuinty government asked former Provincial Auditor Erik Peters to examine the province's finances. Peters revealed that the out-going Conservative administration had left a hidden deficit of at least $5.6 billion. The Conservatives questioned Peters's methodology, and suggested that the McGuinty government was overstating the province's financial difficulties to break or delay some of its campaign spending promises. Most neutral observers, however, agreed that the Conservatives hid a multi-billion dollar deficit during their final year in office.

[edit] First year in office

McGuinty formally took office as Premier and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs on October 23, 2003.

The new government called the Legislature back in session in late 2003. The government brought in auto insurance reforms (including a price cap), rolled-back a series of corporate and personal tax cuts that had been scheduled for 2004, passed legislation that enshrined publicly-funded medicare into provincial law, hired more meat and water inspectors, opened up the provincially-owned electricity companies to Freedom of Information laws and enacted a ban on partisan government advertising.

The McGuinty government also benefited from a scandal involving the previous government's management of Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One, which broke in the winter of 2003-04. It was revealed that a number of key figures associated with Mike Harris's "Common Sense Revolution" had received lucrative, untendered multi-million dollar consulting contracts from these institutions. Among the figures named in the scandal were Tom Long, former Harris campaign chairman, Leslie Noble, former Harris campaign manager and Paul Rhodes, former Harris communications director.

On May 18, 2004, Provincial Finance Minister Greg Sorbara released the McGuinty government's first budget, the first year in four year plan focused on tackling four deficits the Liberals claim the previous Tories left behind: the "health deficit", the "education deficit", the "infrastructure deficit" and the "fiscal deficit".

This budget was focused on health care. At its core was a large infusion of new money into hospitals specifically to shorten wait times in key areas: knee and hip replacements, cancer treatment, cardiac treatment, cataracts, and MRI and CT scans. The government also brought in free immunizations for children, 150 new Family Health Teams to improve access to physicians, almost 100,000 new home care spaces for Ontario's elderly, almost 4,000 new long-term care beds, and $200 millions more to improve public health and fight potential outbreaks like SARS and West Nile Virus.

To pay for this plan, the Liberals imposed a controversial new Health Premium of $300 to $900, staggered according to income. This violated a key Liberal campaign pledge not to raise taxes, and gave the government an early reputation for breaking promises. The Liberals defended the premium by pointing to the previous government's hidden deficit, and McGuinty claimed he needed to break his campaign pledge on taxation to fulfill his promises on other fronts. As a result, the Liberals dropped badly in polls and McGuinty fell behind Ernie Eves in the category of preferred premier^[2]. The party later recovered in popular support, but the broken promise has created a lasting difficulty for McGuinty's administration.

The Ontario Health Premium also became a major issue in the early days of the 2004 federal election, called a week after the Ontario budget. Most believe that the controversy hampered Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin's bid for re-election.

Also controversial was the elimination of coverage for health services not covered by the Canada Health Act including eye examinations and physical therapy. Other elements of the McGuinty government's first budget were a four-year plan to tackle the deficit left behind by the Conservatives, funding for 1,000 new teachers, a transfer of 2 cents of the existing gas tax to municipalities to help fund transit, and a three per cent increase to those on social assistance, the first increase in ten years.

Soon after the federal election, McGuinty attended a First Ministers' Meeting on health-care reform that resulted in a new agreement for a national health accord. This Accord saw the provinces receive new federal funding in exchange for providing reports on such things as waiting times for surgeries.

McGuinty's government ended the year by releasing "Progress Report 2004: Getting Results for Ontario". This work focused on health, education, and economic growth, and set targets to achieve before the next election (including reducing the high school drop out rate, increasing participation in post-secondary education and reducing wait times for specific medical procedures).

[edit] Second year

The McGuinty government brought forward a number of initiatives in the fall of 2004. These included legislation allowing restaurant patrons to bring their own wine, banning junk food in public schools, outlawing smoking in public places, and requiring students to stay in school until age 18. Following a series of high-profile maulings by pit bulls, the government also moved to ban the dogs.

During early 2005, McGuinty called the Legislature back for a rare winter session to debate and pass several high-profile bills. The government legislated a "greenbelt" around Toronto. The size of Prince Edward Island, the Greenbelt protects a broad swath of land from development and preserves forests and farmland. In response to court decisions, the McGuinty Liberals updated legislation to reflect the change in the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples.

McGuinty also launched a campaign to narrow the so-called "$23 billion gap" between what Ontario contributes to the federal government and what is returned to Ontario in services. This came as a sharp turn after more than a year of cooperating with the federal government, but McGuinty pointed to the special deals worked out by the federal government with other provinces (Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia) as compromising the nature of equalization. In particular, McGuinty noted that immigrants in Ontario receive $800 in support from the federal government, while those in Quebec receive $3,800.

Premier McGuinty and Prime Minister Paul Martin debated the Ontario government's accusations throughout the spring of 2005. McGuinty and Martin finally met in May and, following a nine-hour meeting, McGuinty received commitments for almost $6 billion in specific funding for Ontario, including new money for immigrant settlement, training for the unemployed, federal delivery of meat inspection and corporate tax collection and per capita funding for post-secondary education.

In late April 2005, McGuinty announced the closure of the Lakeview coal-fired generating station, one of Ontario's largest polluters. Although the McGuinty government originally promised to close all coal-burning plants by 2007, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan announced on June 14, 2005 that this was no longer possible, and that the that Nanticoke Coal Plant will not close until 2009.

On May 11, 2005, the McGuinty Liberals delivered their second budget, built around the "Reaching Higher" plan for education. The second year of the four year plan, this budget was designed to tackle to so-called "education deficit." Investing $6.2 billion over the next four years, the budget included the largest investment in higher education in forty years. It also increased accessibility for low-income students, expanded medical school spaces, and invested in new faculty, graduate scholarships and research. The budget also broke a previous promise to balance the budget in 2007-08. The government has instead aimed at balance in 2008-09.

The McGuinty Liberals also moved to expand infrastructure spending by encouraging Ontario's large pension plans to invest in the construction of new roads, schools and hospitals. Specific projects in the budget included a 10-year expansion of the Toronto Transit Commission and GO Transit, 15,000 new affordable housing units and improved border crossings. NDP leader Howard Hampton described this move as "privatization by stealth".

During their second year in office, the McGuinty Liberals brought forward a series of successful negotiations with the province's unions, a significant change in labour relations after years of strikes under the previous Progressive Conservative regime. First, Health Minister George Smitherman concluded an agreement with the province's doctors that included incentives to practice in family health teams or under-serviced communities. Education Minister Gerard Kennedy established a province-wide negotiating framework with the province's teachers' unions with the result that most school boards settled their contracts without lost teaching time. Finally, Management Board Chair Gerry Phillips closed a deal with the provincial government's own civil service union, the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union.

On June 22, 2005, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy announced that 90-95% of Ontario students between junior kindergarten and Grade Three will be in classes of twenty students or fewer by 2007. He also acknowledged that extenuating circumstances may require slightly larger classes in some cases. Opposition critic Frank Klees accused the McGuinty government of breaking its promise to cap classroom sizes, but Kennedy responded that some flexibility is always necessary, and that any reasonable person would regard a 90-95% success rate as a promise kept^[3].

Also in June 2005, two cabinet ministers in McGuinty's government came under scrutiny for alleged improprieties. Joseph Cordiano faced calls for his resignation after it was discovered that he billed $17,000 for personal expenses to his riding association. These expenses included meals in Paris and Milan, as well as theatre tickets in London. Cordiano insisted that these expenses were related to riding activities, and refused to resign. McGuinty defended Cordiano in public, claiming he had "complete confidence" in the minister.

At around the same time, Minister of Transportation Harinder Takhar was accused of a conflict-of-interest, after visiting a company that he owned in a blind trust. Takhar acknowledges that he made "an error in judgement", but denied any wrongdoing. Both Cordiano and Takhar were retained in their portfolios following a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005. The matter was sent to the provincial ethics commissioner who issued a ruling on January 4, 2006 that finding that Takhar had violated the province's integrity guidelines by not maintaining an arms length relationship with the trustee appointed to run his blind trust. McGuinty has defended his minister, and has rejected calls to remove him from cabinet, even after the Integrity Commissioner issued his finding^[4].

In the same cabinet shuffle, Premier McGuinty withdrew from the Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio and became the province's first Minister of Research and Innovation.

[edit] Third year

On October 11, 2005, police raided the Sorbara Group offices - owned by Greg Sorbara and his brothers - as part of the ongoing Royal Group Technologies investigation. Although no charges were laid against Sorbara, he resigned as Minister of Finance the same day. Sorbara consistently denied any knowledge of the specific allegations against him, and launched legal action against the RCMP to either clarify their case against him or withdraw their investigation. Following Sorbara's resignation, Dwight Duncan was appointed as Minister of Finance and Chair of the Management Board. Donna Cansfield took over Duncan's responsibility as Minister of Energy and Jim Bradley as Government House Leader.

The next day, the McGuinty government put forward a throne speech in October reiterating their priorities of health, education and economic prosperity. The speech outlined plans to offer the first money-back guarantee on a public service: a refund if you do not receive your birth certificate within 15 days of applying on-line.

On November 18th, 2005, it was announced that Ontario's Drive Clean emissions program was to be expanded rather than scrapped.

The 2006 budget was the third year of the four-year plan, and focused on the "infrastructure deficit." The centrepiece was MoveOntario, a $1.2 billion investment in transportation infrastructure. $400 million was invested to build and repair roads and bridges in municipalities across Ontario.

On May 18, 2006, a judge agreed with Greg Sorbara's contention that the RCMP had erred in including his name in the search warrant. In striking Sorbara's name from the warrant, Justice Ian Nordheimer of the Ontario Superior Court said there were inadequate grounds for police to include him in the first place. The judge was particularly scathing in his review of the RCMP probe of Sorbara.

"I have concluded that there was insufficient evidence placed before the issuing judge ... upon which she could have concluded that there were reasonable and probable grounds to believe that (Sorbara) had committed the offence of fraud," Nordheimer wrote. "I am left with the nagging concern that the application for a search warrant, at least as it related to (Sorbara), was very much premature."

McGuinty returned Greg Sorbara to the cabinet on May 23, 2006 as Minister of Finance.

On August 17th 2006, Foreign Direct Investment magazine (a British magazine owned by the Financial Times) named Dalton McGuinty "personality of the year" for encouraging investment in the auto sector, for developing a plan to increase energy production, and for promoting research and innovation.

In the final month of their third year in office, the McGuinty Liberals faced three major challenges. First, several Emergency Rooms across the province teetered on the edge of closure as doctors complained of long hours and difficult working conditions. Second, some trustees on the Toronto District School Board warned of potential school closures due to the provincial funding formula for education. Third, two US Senators introduced legislation to closure the Michigan border to Ontario garbage, a critical dumping ground for Ontario municipalities.

In response, Health Minister George Smitherman injected $142 million into improving ER doctor salaries, opening more hospital beds and moving patients more quickly to long-term care centres. New education minister Kathleen Wynne oversaw a balanced budget at TDSB that was accomplished without school closures. Environment Minister Laurel Broten negotiated a deal with the US Senate to keep the border open to Canadian trash for the next four years, while municipalities found alternatives in Ontario.

[edit] Fourth Year

In October, the McGuinty Liberals held their last Annual General Meeting before the next election. The event set in place several key elements of their reelection strategy. First, American political consultant James Carville advised Liberal activists to stick to a simple message in the next election, avoiding a litany of issues. Second, the party elected long-time activist Gord Pheneuf as the new president. Finally, Premier McGuinty laid out the themes of the next campaign: standing up for Ontario against the Stephen Harper Conservatives in Ottawa and their local ally, John Tory.

[edit] Toward the 2007 election

In late 2004, John Tory was chosen to replace Ernie Eves as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. A principal secretary to former PC Premier Bill Davis, Tory is widely regarded as more moderate than Mike Harris and the mostly rural MPPs who make up the majority of his caucus. Some believe that Tory could win the support of centrist voters who supported the Liberals in 2003. Conversely, some argue Tory's centrism could alienate his party's right-wing, and prevent the Progressive Conservatives from presenting a clear alternative to the Liberals. At present, Tory has yet to make a major impression on voters, with more than half unfamiliar with him. He also has yet to produce a platform, in contrast to McGuinty and Harris, both of whom were issued detailed manifestos more than a year before the next election. Public opinion research shows the Liberals with a consistent lead over the Conservatives.

On the left, NDP support has remained lower than historic trends throughout the McGuinty years, as it has been since their imposition of the Social Contract while in government in 1993. They continue to poll below 20% support.

[edit] Trivia

• During the 2003 election, then-Premier Ernie Eves declared that McGuinty "just said whatever popped into his sharp, pointy head." McGuinty joked the next morning on a radio show that the hosts should be careful approaching him, warning "what if I spear you with my sharp, pointy head?"

• During the 2003 election, a press release by the Conservatives called McGuinty a "Evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet." Later in the election, McGuinty was highlighting his agricultural policy on a farm when a kitten named Snowball walked out of the barn and up to McGuinty. McGuinty laughed and posed with the kitten for the cameras, declaring "I like kittens. Puppies, too!"

• McGuinty's father once ran a summer camp, and made Dalton the waterski instructor, despite the future Premier having never waterskied in his life. Days later, the self-taught Dalton was teaching the campers and remains a top-notch skier and waterskier.

• Growing up, Dalton Jr was called "Jamie" by his family to avoid confusion with Dalton Sr. In private conversations, family members will still call him Jamie. The Premier's son Dalton is also called "Jamie" by his family.

[edit] See also

• Executive Council of Ontario for a list of McGuinty's current cabinet.

[edit] Reference

1. ^ CBC. "Parties and Leaders: Dalton McGuinty" (HTML), Ontario Votes 2003, CBC.ca, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
2. ^ Urquhart, Ian. "In Politics, misery loves company" (PDF), Toronto Star, June 12, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
3. ^ Artuso, Antonella. "Class cap promise kaput?" (newspaper article), Ottawa Sun, June 23, 2005.
4. ^ Brennan, Richard. "McGuinty refuses to fire transportation minister" (HTML), Toronto Star, Jauary 4, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.

[edit] External links

• Premier of Ontario website
• Dalton McGuinty's official website

Provincial Government of Dalton McGuinty
Cabinet Posts (3)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Ernie Eves	Premier of Ontario (2003–)	Incumbent
Ministry Created	Minster of Research and Innovation (2005–)	Incumbent
Brenda Elliott	Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (2003–2005)	Marie Bountrogianni

Preceded by: Lyn McLeod	Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party 1996 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by: Lyn McLeod	Leader of the Opposition in the Ontario Legislature 1996–2003	Succeeded by: Ernie Eves
Preceded by: Dalton McGuinty, Sr.	M.P.P. for Ottawa South 1990 – present	Incumbent

	Leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party
Brown | McKellar | Blake | Mowat | Hardy | Ross | Graham | MacKay | Rowell | Proudfoot | Dewart | Hay | Sinclair | Hepburn | Conant | H. Nixon | Hepburn | Oliver | Thomson | Oliver | Wintermeyer | Thompson | R. Nixon | Smith | Peterson | R. Nixon | Elston | Bradley | McLeod | McGuinty

Premiers of Ontario
Macdonald | Blake | Mowat | Hardy | Ross | Whitney | Hearst | Drury | Ferguson | Henry | Hepburn | Conant | Nixon | Drew | Kennedy | Frost | Robarts | Davis | Miller | Peterson | Rae | Harris | Eves | McGuinty