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Business mag taps McGuinty as 'personality'

Canadian Press

Latest comment posted at 8:40 PM EST 17/08/06

Foreign Direct Investment likes Ontario Premier's efforts to promote research and innovation ...Read the full article

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  1. carlo cardile from Canada writes: Maybe 'Personality' is the wrong word?
  2. bob dick from Ottawa, Canada writes: If the people who chose McGuinty to win lived in Ontario, they may have a different perspective...
  3. Pragmatic Pundit from Downtown Toronto, Canada writes: McGuinty doesn't get enough credit. People hate him simply because they are following the sheep mentality of the conservatives. For some odd reason, even ontario conservatives, who have seen the utter devistation that the Harris/Eves regime inflicted upon us - including a 6 billion dollar secret deficet - would rather keep tossing their salads then admit that McGuinty has been the best premier this province has had in the past 3 decades. Not only will McGuinty be getting my vote again this time around, but I will be donating to his campaign as well as volunteering for it.
  4. Opin ion ated from GTA, Canada writes: I must say I'm not a Dalton M. fan but congratulations are in order. I guess he must have felt the need to go out and bring in all those auto jobs to counter all of the TAX INCREASES he gave us. Seems to me when I lived in the USA I used to see TV commercials with Mike Harris promoting Ontario.
  5. Jeff Simmons from Canada writes: wow. who knew.
  6. John Grech from Canada writes: Thanks for the morning chuckle.
  7. P C from Canada writes: You've got to be kidding. This has to be a joke. Well I guess we have to look at it this way, previous winners where from third world countries. So thanks Dalton for giving Ontario into a third world status.
  8. Pretty Much from Toronto, Canada writes: I really think he has done a lot good for Ontario. Obviously the myopic voters are going to only get off on short term gains like tax cuts etc but this man has vision for the province. Go McGuinty!
  9. shawn bull from writes: Pragmatic Pundit: Well when McGuinty gets crushed in the next election (and he will be crushed like we haven't seen in a long time) then we will be very clear on who the 1 person was who voted for him in Ontario. The best Premier in 3 decades???? My goodness some people are so out there.
  10. Greg T from Winnipeg, Canada writes: I think I just heard some neo-con brains explode. Congrads Dalton! This article just made my day.
  11. Non-hyphenated Canadian from Burlington, Canada writes: I wonder how much foreign investment has been driven away by his fumbling of the armed occupation, road destruction, and arsen happening in Caledonia.
  12. Pete H from Canada writes: # 3 PP - Your post is funnier than the article.
  13. RT Berrouard from Cambridge ON., Canada writes: It wasn't Dalton that brought all those jobs it was the 1% gst cut!!!
  14. Have Pun, Will Travel from Canada writes: Enjoy it while you can Derwood McGuinty. There is an election coming and the bell tolls for thee.
  15. kaseem ebag from Mississauga, Canada writes: I honestly believe conservatives are too simple minded to appreciate an actually vision and strategy. They look for tax cuts, and are so delighted they don't even bother to ask how will this help me? I remember when a British magazine called Paul Martin, Mr. dithers and they all applauded it, and it was an accurate description. But now that they're applauding a Liberal... different story. How will saving $100 a year help our education system compete and attract investment to the province or the country. Or that taxed child care benefit, where parents get some mesely amount to help to raise there children, when Canada has a slow population growth rate. Or what about the 6 billion dollar debt the Ontario Tories lied about? Where's the accountability there?
  16. Matthew Harris from Toronto, Canada writes: I agree. He has helped devolve more powers onto Toronto, he gave money to start the York U subway extension, he has created a greenbelt plan, he has begun to address the energy issue, and he is balancing the budget (which the conservatives left in a mess). The man has the personality of a robot, but he has been an exceptionally good Premier. I don't like the health care user fees, too, but c'mon, he can't do everything we'd like to see him do.
  17. Michael H from Calgary, Canada writes: Seems odd to reocognize someone for doing something innovative when someone else actually did it 6 years earlier. Alberta has had a ministry of Science and Innovation since 1999....
  18. Henry Roberts from Port Dover, Canada writes: WOW!! The man who says ' No two tier health system ' brings in 'PREMIUMS ' with multi layer levels, but that is NOT two tier. Admits he lied on tax increases to get elected is now a 'Personality' I guess England is far enough away to be totally out of touch with Ontario.
  19. The Critic Critic from writes: Dalton knew about the 6 billion debt,being to the school of Liberal shenanigans, he kept his mouth shut knowing he could use this little tid bit at a later date. Low and behold comes the health tax,we have a big debt,we need this money for health. So what does he do but cut medical procedures that older folks need. Now Mike Harris did most of his cutting due to transfer payments that Pundits beloved Liberals did to the provinces. The catch is Mike Harris told the voters what he was going to do, he did not LIE as did Dalton. Liberal voters have to be lied to ,it's a fix they need,Mr Pundit obviously got his fix.
  20. Timothy Nessus from Somewhere, Canada writes: OK, leaving politics aside, I think McGuinty has the personality of a mushroom. How come he gets to be named 'Personality of the Year'??? What's next? It's like naming the comatose patient lying in the adjacent bed the 'soul of the party'!
  21. M B from Toronto, Canada writes: Can't blame the English for picking Dalty, they just naturally love the Mr. Bean types.
  22. R Fung from Toronto, Canada writes: 'Personality' is an inaccurate correlation. I prefer 'lifelessness' and the lack of commitment to meet his promises.
  23. shawn bull from writes: Matthew Harris #16: Giving more powers to Toronto is going to break the back of the already overloaded Torontonian taxpayer. The subway is $1 billion in debt so I doubt the York line will be extended anytime soon, the greenbelt has virtaully bankrupted hundreds of farmers who can no longer sell their land (land that was their retirment income by selling). He has began to addres the energy issue???? what??? McGuinty has bombed this file. It is a disgrace the mess we are in regarding energy. Matthew, McGuinty has not balanced the budget yet. He has ran a deficit every year since coming to office...even though he nailed us with a multi billion dollar health tax. McGuinty has been an absolute train wreck. The worst premier this province has ever seen (after Rae that is). McGuinty is gone in a year!!
  24. Marlee H from Oakville, Canada writes: You gotta love the English sense of irony on this one! I think I've seen Dalton twice on the TV since he was elected....kind of like Harper on the Hill, don't come out if you don't have to, stay in the background and cut cut cut away at our province and country until poof....there's nothing left! M
  25. V K from Markham, Canada writes: Here we go again with all the Tunnel vision voters have for the short term. Dalton has gone a great job - much better than any other previous premier in my opinion. Just because he had no option but to break some of the promises he made, let's not vote for him - We should elect somebody who makes one or two promises, screws up everything else but hey - They kept their promises!!! Let's look beyond the surface and see in the long term are we better off. I believe that it takes guts for Politicians to do anything for the Long term and I believe Dalton has done a great job. Compare him to our PM - Well that is a totally different matter - The Long term repercussions of the policies are something we all will face and the people who think he has guts etc to take a stand, be it the wrong stand, good luck to them and to us. Congratulations Dalton !!! You deserve it.
  26. James Young from Brantford, Canada writes: Congratulations Premier McGuinty. A litle recognizion is always welcome. You are doing a fine job from my perspective. You achievements are not publicized enough. You need a new PR man. Durgan.
  27. Wir sind das Volk from Toronto, Canada writes: I can't believe the incredulity of those who parrot the Liberal's about the Conservative's 'massive' deficit, and leaving the provincial finances in a 'mess'. The Liberal's had every incentive, once they got control of the province's books to make the deficit appear as large as possible - how else to justify cancelling tax cuts, bringing in new tax hikes and big increases in spending generally. This is all optics... Ernie Eves said that were he elected the province wuld have posted a 'small' deficit nowhere near $5.6 billion. Moreover, the Conservatives took a $10 billion NDP deficit, cut income taxes by 40% , INCREASED spending in health care by 50% from 1996 to 2003, and balanced the budget for several years. THAT'S pretty amazing, if you ask me. But I guess these same Liberal automatons will be amazed when Dalton miraculously annouces a balanced budget a couple months before the election (and likely more big tax hikes after...to pay all those auto companies to build plants here...if it can work in Alabama...)
  28. kaseem ebag from Mississauga, Canada writes: I saw one person post that it was the GST cut that created job growth in Ontario, I'm confused to why the globe would allow that to be posted, since the cuts started only a month ago, but like I said before conservatives tend to be more simple minded and this is proof. And during the election Dalton did say there was a deficit the tories kept lying about it. However I think the Liberals where expecting it to be about 4 billion or less not 6!!! But according the PC there was none at all!!!
  29. Pragmatic Pundit from Canada writes: RE # 9 - Have you seen the latest polls? McGuinty leads Tory 38% to 35% - and this is from the Toronto Sun - THE ontario right wing rag. As for your other rant (re # 26) I have yet to see anything about 'bankrupt' farmers, as you claim. Why are you making things up? As for the deficet, you conviently forget the horrendous mess your idols Harris and Eves left for us. Just like the federal Liberals did after the Mulroney rape, the budget has looked better every single since we elected the Liberals to once again clean up after the conservatives.
  30. Joe Galasso from Caladonia, Canada writes: McGuilty ( Caledonia spelling)!, are you sure it wasnt the DCE protesters in my town that voted ?, enjoy your last few days. The man has done his party in , wont see a Liberal around this town for a long time !.
  31. JP M from Canada writes: Wow are some of your out of touch with reality. Not that I'm a fan of Dalton, but you have to give credit where it is due. To that point, many of the successes of the Ontario Libs have come from the office of the Minister for economic development, Joseph Cordiano. Winning all of that auto investment was no happy accident, but the result of executing a well crafted and thoughtful plan...and it had absolutely NOTHING to do with a GST cut. Some of your should get off your partisan horses once in a while and consider a bit of truth and reality. On energy for example...there's plenty enough blame on that one to stick to all parties.
  32. The Real P S from Toronto, Canada writes: Pesonality, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, no stop, stop, you're killing me, it's like saying he's been a good premier, or that he didn't know exactly what the fiscal situation of the province was (given his staff were at all party budget meetings prior to the last election) or that he'll get re-elected. Gheees, haven't laughed that hard in years.
  33. Clark Kent from Canada writes: OK, #19 seems to be privy to McGuinty's mind what with him declaring that McGuinty knew about the Consevatives' 6 billion dollar deficit. Why, if you don't vote for the Liberals, would you vote for a party that covered up a huge deficit from the public? I just can't fathom partisan fanatics. I can actually see that 'no tax increase' promise coming when the government was hiding its tab (though, conspiracy theorists are free to speculate), but the Tories obviously *lied* outright. And shawn bull, who seems to be Conservative for life: last I heard (or, read on this site), Grits have slightly more support in Ontario than the Tories. Tory might be slightly more popular than McGuinty, but it seems your oft-proclaimed Liberal defeat isn't quite prophecy.
  34. Clark Kent from Canada writes: Also, the greenbelt is essential for Toronto (like it is essential for cities like London). The urban and suburban sprawl was killing the city. Now it is forced to grow up more dense. Sadly those few farmers will have to suffer (or farm), but Toronto can become more livable as a result.
  35. Canadian Citizen from Ottawa, Canada writes: McGuinty may be somewhat lacking in the personality department, but he has been an excellent Premier. He is pragmatic, not an ideological man, and that's what we need in government. For those who say Harris didn't lie - ya right! What about the enormous deficit he left behind? I don't remember seeing any of those Tory commercials paid for with taxpayers' money trumpeting that little mess they left behind!
  36. Pretty Much from Toronto, Canada writes: I worked as a civil servant both under Eves and under McGuinty. Once McGuinty stepped in he cut all frivolous spending and relaxed hiring practices saving millions of dollars from within. I am sorry but he is excellent and he does have a great personality. He aint no Trudeau
  37. shawn bull from writes: Pragmatic Pundit: You did not hear the farmer's protest this greenbelt due to their loss of ability to sell their land? It was in all the papers even the right-wing-rag SUN. Yes, McGuinty has always had a lead in popular support but that is 100% normal in Ontario politics. Eves had a lead going into the last election. I never said the last government did not run a deficit. I stated that McGuinty has ran a deficit every year he has been premier. McGuinty will be gone in 1 year. Thank the lord. Nice try Prags...but I back up my argument with evidence.
  38. Give Your Head A Shake from Southern Ontario, Canada writes: That must be the British version of MAD Magazine, right? Authored by no other than Benny Hill and John Cleese. I am totally underwhelmed.
  39. Wir sind das Volk from Toronto, Canada writes: I seem to remember those terrible Harris years in the late 90s when we had 5% growth and 5% unemployment, tax cuts and by 2000 a balanced budget. I think this year growth in Ontario is projected at 2.6% (by MOF) so he is at half the Harris level...not too bad I guess...what with all those auto company investments bought with taxpayers dollars. That silly Harris believed that competitive tax levels (with Michigan, not Quebec) and sizeable investments in infrastructure would draw in investment (which it did) but thank gawd that 'Industrial Policy' is back in Ontario! Funny too how the Greenbelt plan is premised on the idea that we'll all live in highrises and take transit to work; good for sustainable development to be sure, but seemingly inconsistent with throwing your lot in with the auto sector as the wave of the future. Maybe the sole-source subway contracts to Thunder Bay will save us...
  40. R. B. from Toronto, Canada writes: shawn bull (37) - give credit where credit is due. McGuinty has made some good moves and is deserving of this award. But he will lose in a year. Why? Because McGuinty will campaign as a Liberal even though his sucesses are the result of Red Tory thinking. John Tory IS a Red Tory and Ontario is ready (and eager, I suspect) to get back to its Red Tory roots. To all those that decry the days of Harris/Eve, remember that they were Blue Tory and to compare J. Tory to them is as unfair as calling McGuinty a second Rae.
  41. kaseem ebag from Mississauga, Canada writes: Shawn Bull where do you get your info? Eves went into the election down in the polls. That's why he called the election right after the black out because it gave him a slight boost. And it seems the only thing the neocons are harping about is the health care fee. Seniors don't pay it, and most Ontarians don't pay the whole fee of 800. And that's small price to pay for a better Ontario. Where class sizes are kept small for young kids, and Post Secondary education recieves more investment. I think the Liberals just need to show off a little more, they have done alot good things. Ontario just recently opened an Investment center in Japan to attract more business from Japanese automakers.
  42. Pragmatic Pundit from Libbys are a sorry lot, Canada writes: I'm trying to write this without laughing too hard. All this means is that dalty's PR machine is working full time to make sure he's employable after he is obliterated from political life in Oct 2007. I'm curious to see what the criteria were and what validation was done by the magazine. Funny but I could find no mention of this anywhere else on the internet including the magazine's own web site. Another Pravda papparazi story?
  43. shawn bull from writes: kaseem ebag: When the election was called the Tories (under Eves) had a 2 point lead in the polls....and he lost.....just like Dalton will.
  44. Just Canadian from Ottawa, Canada writes: #40 R. B. from Toronto says: 'Ontario is ready (and eager, I suspect) to get back to its Red Tory roots' First, who told you Ontarians had Tory roots? Second, why would we be eager to go back to the Tories? So that they can lie to us, again, about a massive deficit, cut our services right, right and right and give tax breaks to the rich? Gimme, and Ontario, a longer break and keep the Tories out.
  45. Kendall R from Canada writes: Re: #36, I worked as a civil servant under both Eves & McGuinty too, and let me tell you, the premise that McGuinty has improved anything isn't true. Unless, of course, you you count delaying program funding in order to achieve maximum political advantage - to the deteriment of the agencies & communities involved - as an 'improvement'.
  46. R U Kidding from Canada writes: Wot a laugh!!! We were in deficit when Dalt took office (about 2.5 b), but he had 6 mnths to do something, he did worse, he ensured the deficit ballooned just so he could make a political statement.
  47. anu bose from ottawa, Canada writes: Risible!
  48. David Novak from Toronto, Canada writes: Given that he was handed a very bad fiscal mess courtesy of the Harris/Eves Tories, I think Mr McGuinty has done a pretty decent job. I doubt the Ontario Liberals had any advance inside knowledge of the true extent of the fiscal disaster they were to inherit - the best private sector forecasts at the time were about 2 to 3 bilion per year. Nonetheless, I do accept that McGuinty was somewhat optimistic when he made his tax promises. From the posts we see here, the neocons in Ontario are still proud of Harris/Eves for supposedly 'doing what they said they were going to do'. Really? Did they say they were going to increase the public debt of Ontario by about 50%? Those tax cuts for corporations and upper income earners were paid for with borrowed money. In many ways the Harris/Eves Tories were a perfect prototype for the gross fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Lite administration south of the border.
  49. bill johnson from Quebec, Canada writes: My standard for a premier is whether the person is a role model for my children. No matter what your political stripe, one cannot justify Mr. McGuinty's dishonesty. He is no role model for my kids.
  50. James Switkowski from close to Toronto, but not in it., Canada writes: You are all being very rude and wicked and I will never invite you to my party again. I saw McGuinty at Jumbo Video and he picked out a meaningful European art house movie. More evidence that he is deserving of some respect. By the way I voted NDP last time, could someone please take that and insult me for my choice as I feel I've been left out of all the bashing.
  51. Pretty Much from Toronto, Canada writes: #45- yes I do agree program funding is delayed in some ministries and that pisses me off because those tend to be more important (albient less prestigious) minstries like comsoc, LTC, health etc- but do we NOT need funding from the feds in that case? I am not sure if changing Government will solve that problem or exacerbate it. Much like our Native Affairs issue.
  52. I, Canadian from Toronto, Canada writes: #3, C'mon, the best Premier in the past 30 years?? Tell this to the parents of autustic children he recently dragged through the courts due to another lie. I suppose as a die hard Libby you are accustomed to holding your nose, if not your wallet.
  53. Dan Van Gageldonk from Toronto, Canada writes: For those of you who missed it either intentionally or just seem to want to forget it, but the year before the deficit hit there was lets see A BLACKOUT, and lets see SARS. These little incidents just might of had a bit of effect on the bottom line of our provinces finances. Also in the summer before the election there are quotes in the paper from members of McGuinty's offical opposition who were screaming that the deficit was going to be 5-6 billion dollars. I am absolutely amazed that many on this website call it a hidden deficit when the Liberals were well aware of what the budgetary figures were. The fact is that the Liberals play games with this deficit in order to win more votes and to look like a saviour. Once again the favourite Liberal pastime of leading isn't to do what is principled or best for the populace but what will win us the better PR and more votes. I thought Ernie Eves was horrible and was glad to see him turfed but lets admit Dalton has been an abject failure.
  54. R. B. from Toronto, Canada writes: Just Canadian from Ottawa (44) - Look beyond the last decade. The Tories held power in Ontario from 1943 to 1985 as Red Tories. The Ontario PCs, themselves, betrayed their roots when they elected a Blue Tory - Frank Miller. This resulted in the Peterson govt. Grossman replaced Miller, but continued to advocate Miller's policies (fool me once...). That's when Grossman lost the election and his seat. At the next party leadership Harris (Blue Tory) beat Cunningham (Red Tory) because she was too much like Mulroney for most Tories. That's when Harris lost to Rae. After the subsequent disaster, the Liberals tried to steal the social conservatives from Harris while moving to the left. This made no sense - so Harris won. When Harris's blueness became apparent, his popularity dropped and he was replaced by Eves. Eves was a Red Tory, but was cast as a Harris-follower (not unfairly since he wrote some pretty blue budgets) and McGuinty moved to a centre-right position (Red Tory territory) - so McGunity won. The conclusion? Ontario sits centre-right (again, Red Tory territory). Only Rae & Harris won despite this because the centre-right party leader was too undesirable - Peterson too arrogant and McGuinty being made of wood (or in 1995 there was no centre-right leader).
  55. kaseem ebag from Mississauga, Canada writes: Once again Mr. Bull you missed the point. The tories where rocked my scandal, people like Jim flaherty, and other conservatives where giving out luvrative deals to there friends and where charging the province hundreds of thousands of dollars for personal pleasure. The conservatives where down the poll for a while, and opposition kept hitting away. Don't you remember how the Liberals where desperate for an election by the time the summer of the black out came? And why Ontario now has fixed election dates? The blackout gave him the boost, but the first week of campaign the Liberals had a 12 point lead!! Which quickly eroded into a tie by the weekend but then the liberals came back and won it. You may also want to take note that Ontarians did not like the conservatives in the 1999 election but they ran a better campaign as mcguinty who came off inexperienced. You may also want to take note that Earnie eves was a red tory, unlike Harris who has hard right. In fact Eves was very similar to martin in the fact that they where not decisive, and Eves also turned off many neocons with his policies. And the liberals came into power with a huge upset over the Tories and where left with a 5.6 billion dollar deficit. AND THOSE WHO SAY HARRIS HAD A SURPLUS ARE NOT LOOKING AT THE DETAILS, THE ONLY REASON HE HAD A SURPLUS IN 2000-2001 WAS BECAUSE HE SOLD ASSETS, AND HAD INCREASED FEDERAL TRANSFERS!!!
  56. eddie fitzgerald from toronto, Canada writes: To all the right wingers who are stunned, I am sure you prefer Stephen Harper's PERSONALITY and Mike Harris' INTELLECT!! Heee heee haaaaaaaaaw!!
  57. The Downtowner from Toronto, Canada writes: I guess everybody hates a kitten eater...
  58. Wir sind das Volk from Toronto, Canada writes: Um...#48 sorry but I worked in the Ministry of Finance during those years and your attempts at revisionist history are all wrong... Rae doubled the debt...Harris increased it by about 20% in nominal dollars; he did run some deficits due to the short term loss in revenue from tax cuts but since Ontario posted some of its fastest growth rates since the 60s in those years, the debt to GPP ratio actually fell while the PCs were in power. As for you mythological tax cuts for the rich and corporations, most of the income tax cuts were directed at families earning between $30 - $60K, high income earners had their cuts offset with two (large) surtaxes which stil exist today and add over 6 percentage points to the top tax rate in Ontario. As for corporate tax cuts, they were promised by Harris and Eves, but cancelled by McGuinty so, to my knowledge, there have never been corporate tax cuts in Ontario, unless you include the ones brought in by the federal Liberals (who seem to get that high business taxes only starve the private sector of investment capital, and thereby over the long run, reduce government revenue). As for the 'fiscal mess', well I have never seen a government more capable of spinning numbers and engaging in outright deception than the current one. Eves may have made things look a bit better than they actaully were but ol' Dalton sure made them look worse...whaich appears to have served him well with incredulous types such as yourself.
  59. Cathie Sindall from Hamilton, Canada writes: After October 2007 we can all afford to be generous with praise for Mr McGuinty (ie when he retires). Until then, the job destroying, massive tax increase he has implemented is far too painful.
  60. Peter McCallum from Kitchener, Canada writes: Boy oh boy there sure are alot of angry people out there...my only comment is that I could never, nor would ever vote for anyone who looks that much like Lee Harvey Oswald...sorry Dalton it's nothing personal
  61. Ron Romhanyi from Hamilton, ON, Canada writes: “Pragmatic Pundit from Downtown Toronto, Canada writes: McGuinty doesn't get enough credit. People hate him simply because they are following the sheep mentality of the conservatives.” No, the people that “hate” him are not sheep or conservatives. He’s a blatant, unabashed liar. There actually are people intelligent enough to remember his promises and the fact that it took him about 5 nanoseconds to break them. For good or bad, politician or not, liberal or conservative, the man lied. Period.

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