Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Dalton McGuinty's reputation as an honest premier?
If Mr. McGuinty wants to maintain his reputation as an honest premier, he must call in the Auditor now and clear up the allegations against his government before October's election. Otherwise, voters may simply assume the worst.When did Dalton McGuinty ever have a reputation as an honest premier? Why shouldn't the people of Ontario simply assume the worst? The man's entire campaign to get elected was a big lie. He swore he would balance the budget and not raise taxes. And, if he had to change his mind, he would take it to a referendum, as the existing law at the time required him to do.
He lied on all counts. He raised taxes, he ran a deficit, and he refused to let the people decide with a referendum if his excuses were genuine. In fact, he changed the law so that he didn't have to do it.
In other words, at no point did Dalton McGuinty ever establish a reputation as an honest premier. So, if he's dug himself into a hole currently on issues of ethics and integrity, it's nothing new. His entire term of office was established on a foundation of lies.
This is one Ontario citizen that will make sure that the people of Ontario will never forget, especially during the next election in October.
UPDATE (10:01 am): By the way, regarding the budding scandal that was the topic of the editorial in the first place, I'm not sure how McGuinty will try to weasel himself out.
His current position is simply untenable. The idea that the people in question will engage in a half-hearted self-investigation, and that it will be over only after the next election, is insane. He opens himself to being questioned on the matter for the entire duration of his term in office.
I believe McGuinty is smart enough to know this. So, he's either hoping Ontarians don't care or he'll have to come up with something. Ontarians will care. This is too big to brush aside. He'll have to address this pretty soon.
His problem is that his initial position was that of denial. So, if he turns around and says an investigation is in order, anything short of bringing in the Auditor will be seen as yet another attempt at a cover-up.
I keep hearing that McGuinty is a smart politician, usually from his cheerleaders. I said he was smart. But smart politics this ain't.
In fact Dalton has pizzed on the rural ridings, and those morons living in SW Ontario west of Hamilton have mostly voted Liberal in the last election. It will be interesting to see if they have realized they have been cheated by the Liberals.
Just like the federal Liberals, Dalton's power base is the urban GTA ridings, and that is where he is concentrating his electoral efforts.
: 5:49 PM Post a Comment
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