Cry Baby McGuinty
McGuinty has ruffled some feathers among his colleagues.... left in huff.
McGuinty did not attend the second day of a meeting in Montreal, but he came under fire for his comments asserting Ontario can't afford to give more money to poor provinces.
Manitoba's Gary Doer says McGuinty should live with the conclusions of the provincially commissioned report on the so-called fiscal imbalance crafted by an blue-ribbon panel noting that "Ontario agreed to the expert panel and they chose the co-chair."
Some premiers didn't disguise their annoyance over McGuinty's decision to issue his own statement.
"We just haven't seen this before," Binns said. "It's disappointing."
Manitoba's Gary Doer echoed that sentiment.
"I'd prefer one communique," Doer said.
Dalton Macguinty - Getting Along with Others - Grade F
posted by pale at 8:16 PM
5 Comments:
Dalton getting along with Ontario Voters: Grade F Minus.
I thought that Bob Rae was the worst Premier we ever had but Fibbin' Dalton is getting closer to number one every day.
It's not the first time. Remember that LCBO report he commissioned last year, and threw it in the garbage immediately?
The issue is Harper's gameplan to substantially reduce the powers of the central government in Canada by devolving those powers on the provinces. If Harper is successful, Canada will become a balkanized nation of bickering premiers, with no common standards uniting Canadians as a nation, and with the Prime Minister sitting in the booth closest to the kitchen, with his hands tucked under his seat, doing nothing.
Harper and his New Tories aim at a massive transfer of power (legislative, financial) to the provinces, through a deal cut in smoky rooms, and over a policy which has not been tested by being debated vigorously during an election campaign. Harper is aiming at a stealth-change of how Canada functions, agreed to by premiers and him, without the voters of the provinces or the voters of Canada being involved in such a decision. It is akin to a Meech Lake Accord without requiring Canadians to vote on it.
Is this process of Harper's democractic? Not by a long shot.
Have Canadians agreed to these dramatic changes in the federal / provincial structure? Not by a long shot.
Will Harper open his dealings to public debate? Never – he does not agree with his decisions being debated by voter representatives.
Harper is aiming at making Ontario the "bad guy", and getting the other provinces to gang up on Ontario's Premier. He is hoping to stampede Ontario into agreeing to a deal, so that Harper can then go the country for an election, hoping to win more seats in Quebec and gain a majority government.
As Chantal Hebert wrote: "Nothing would do more to accelerate Harper's plan to emerge as the default federalist option in Quebec than a campaign that found the federal Liberals and the Bloc Québécois on the wrong side of a deal with Charest on the fiscal imbalance."
Harper's stampede tactics (similar to those used by Bush in his deceptive entry into the war in Iraq) have been successful so far – he suckered Duceppe and Layton into supporting a vote of no confidence in the Liberal government. If it worked once, why not try again?
What can Ontario's Premier, Dalton McGuinty, do given the by now obvious strategy of Harper?
Simple. He can take a stand on principle: that such decisions should be made by the people. McGuinty can make the whole backroom-dealing process transparent by simply stating right now that he requires two things to take place: (1) that all meetings of Premiers on this subject, and any meeting he has with Harper, be open to the public, and televised; and (2) that he will not agree to any deal unless it has been put to the voters of Ontario through a plebescite.
This will immediately make the whole process of nation-changing more democratic, put pressure on the Premiers of all provinces to consider voters as well and perhaps adopt similar plebescites, and relieve McGuinty of any pressure to rush into a deal "in the interests of Canada" (as John Tory has tried to frame it).
So, Dalton: strike a blow for democracy. Call for transparency in meetings of Premiers on this "backroom Meech Lake Deal", and have Ontario voters decide the issue.
How can a deal be made in "smoky rooms"? There's no smoking in Ontario.
And "a stand on principle"? Come on! This is the most dishonest premier in the history of Canada....
Post a Comment
<< Home