Personally, I've never liked the man since he did an about face on most of his key promises after taking office. Of course he blamed it on the former Ernie Eves administration (PC), which he continued to do until the next election (when the 'former administration' became his) but then he blamed it on whatever source was handy. Therefore, the man is a great buck-passer except when it comes to taking credit.
Also, he's a consummate politician, meaning the last election is just the prelude to getting elected again, which can be seen in almost every piece of social legislation --i.e. from child benefit payments to grants for companies to hire immigrants.
Having said that, here are some headlines and excerpts that summarize my reasons:
Dalton McGuinty has made enemies of friends: Bans strikes by teachers, freezes wages
The strategy: manufacture a crisis that would make McGuinty look decisive and responsive in the eyes of parents wondering whether classes would resume after Labour Day. The strategy would pay extra dividends on the doorsteps of Kitchener—Waterloo (byelection) if the opposition tried to thwart the legislation.
Teachers gain support from Canadian Civil Liberties Association
It’s unconstitutional to take away the right to strike before there’s a threat of one, the association said Thursday in announcing it will seek intervener status if the law passes as expected — likely Sept. 10 — and education unions challenge it.
“Peoples’ rights are not something to be trifled with,” said Sukanya Pillay, director of the association. “We are concerned that this legislation goes too far and violates the civil liberties of all Ontarians.”
Cancer drug not ‘cost-effective’
Health ministry denies prostate cancer patient medication that could double his life expectancy
While acknowledging its benefits, the message was that the drug is so effective in prolonging life it isn’t cost-effective. If men survive longer with prostate cancer, they will cost the health-care system more money.
McGuinty pandering to immigrants (voters)
That’s all you can say about the Dalton McGuinty Liberals’ plan to give a $10,000 tax credit to companies that hire newcomers to this country. It is bald-faced pandering to the immigrant vote.
Imagine this: A company is hiring staff. There are two applicants. One is a young person recently arrived in this country, speaking little English. He or she has no background and no history of working and paying taxes in this country.
The other applicant is a young person who was educated here. Who’s paying taxes. Whose parents paid taxes and who’ve contributed to this community in countless ways. The young person probably has a student debt.
Hydro rate hike
Ontarians on Time-of-Use Pricing (TOU) will see their lowest rate for electricity — overnight and on weekends and holidays — rise to 6.5 cents per kWh from 6.1 cents per kWh.
On a weekday from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., prices increase to 10 cents kWh from 9.2 cents kWh.
Firing up the electrical appliances during peak times, which will be between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays for the rest of the spring and summer, will set consumers back 11.7 cents kWh, up from 10.8 cents kWh.
Those increasingly rare hydro customers not on Smart Meter billing will pay 7.5 cents kWh, an increase of 0.4 cents kWh, on the first 600 kWh per month.
Any use over that threshold, which drops from 1,000 kWh in winter months, will be billed at the new higher price of 8.8 cents kWh, up 0.5 cents kWh.
ORNGE: Former Mazza aide tells probe he was told to mislead auditors with false documents
The former executive aide to Dr. Chris Mazza at ORNGE testified he was ordered to create “illegal” false documents to mislead auditors probing the scandal-plagued air ambulance service.
“There were plenty of secrets at ORNGE,” said Lebo, whose testimony overshadowed Premier Dalton McGuinty’s refusal to appear at the hearing to answer questions about his own meetings with Mazza.
“The more the premier refuses to appear…the more questions we have,” said Klees, suggesting McGuinty is afraid to reveal information that could hurt Liberal chances in two crucial by-elections next Thursday in Vaughan and Kitchener-Waterloo.
Ontario economy could be worse than California’s
California trumps Ontario with lower debt-to-GDP ratio — the ratio used to measure a country's ability to repay debt. California's debt-to-GDP is 19 per cent whereas Ontario's is a whopping 35 per cent. California also boasts a much lower per capita debt: each Ontario resident owes $18,651 while Golden State residents owe just over $10,000.
No problem with no caucasians allowed at Ontario correctional services conference: Ruling
A group of white, Ontario correctional officers was barred from attending a government conference on anti-racism and diversity in the workplace, documents obtained by the Toronto Sun show.
The conference sparked a backlash from white officers, according to the documents, who alleged the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services [Ontario] discriminated against them because they weren’t part of an identifiable ethnic group.
The officers, some of whom have non-white spouses, were represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), whose lawyers unsuccessfully argued their collective agreement was violated before a grievance settlement board in January 2012.
Liberals suffer reality blackout on electrcitiy usage
While the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty would like you to believe it’s their energy policy that’s saved us, in fact it’s their economic development plan — or lack thereof — that’s freed up massive amounts of electricity.
This province has lost almost half a million manufacturing jobs since McGuinty came to power, so we just don’t need the same kind of generation we once did.
Remember McGuinty’s 2003 pledge to shut all coal-fired plants by 2007? It may be a dirty demon to him, but it’s still going strong. Coal production on Thursday was 2,232 MW — more than twice the 853 MW produced by windpower.
The McGuinty government has been very clever about branding the Mike Harris and Ernie Eves years as a time of energy crisis. In fact, the Tory years were an era of industrial boom — and that’s what caused the hydro shortage.
And the list goes on an on.
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Would I vote for Dalton McGuinty in one of the up-coming byelections? Not if they were running a white dog against him.
