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| Affiliation | Liberal |
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| Name | Dalton McGuinty |
| Address |
Ottawa, Ontario , Canada |
| Email | dalton.mcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
July 19, 1955 |
| Died |
Still Living
(70 years) |
| Contributor | Monsieur |
| Last Modifed | Campari_007
Oct 29, 2012 08:31pm |
| Tags |
French - Irish - Married - Catholic - Straight -
|
| Info | Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr.
Dalton McGuinty, MPP is the 24th Premier of Ontario. He is only the second Roman Catholic to hold this office.
McGuinty grew up in a large Irish-Canadian 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. McGuinty is married to high school sweetheart Terri McGuinty. The couple have four children. Since 2004, his brother David has represented Ottawa in the Canadian House of Commons.
His father, Dalton Sr., served as MPP for Ottawa South until his death in 1990. An often-told anecdote relates that Dalton Sr.'s 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 Liberal Party's nomination for Ottawa South for the provincial election of 1990, and was elected as MPP.
The Liberal government of David Peterson was defeated by the social democratic Ontario NDP in this election, and McGuinty was the only rookie Liberal MPP elected. He was re-elected in Ottawa South in 1995.
McGuinty was elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party at its 1996 leadership convention in a surprise fifth-ballot victory over frontrunner Gerard Kennedy, the left-wing former head of Toronto's Daily Bread food bank. Running as a moderate pro-business candidate, McGuinty finished fourth on the first and second ballots but gradually gained support.
McGuinty's first term as Leader of the Opposition was tough. He was often criticized for lacking charisma and was described as ineffective by the press.
Strong economic growth in the province helped re-elect Mike Harris and the PC Party in 1999. McGuinty's performance in this campaign was widely criticized. He appeared unfamiliar with his platform and delivered a poor performance in the leader's debate. McGuinty was nevertheless able to rally his party in the closing days and the Liberals ended up with 40% of the vote and an increased seat total from 30 to 36. Ontario's unions generally supported the Liberals in this election.
McGuinty's second term as opposition leader was successful. He hired a skilled group of advisors and rebuilt the party's fundraising operation. The party adopted a platform that emphasized lowering school class sizes, hiring nurses, increasing environmental protections, and holding the line on taxes. A number of controversies involving the governing PCs occurred as well, including the fallout over the shooting death of protester Dudley George at Ipperwash and the deaths of seven people from tainted water in Walkerton. Harris resigned in the fall of 2001.
Harris's successor Ernie Eves was never able to gain control of the agenda, and appeared indecisive and reactive. The 2003 North America blackout, however, gave Eves increased exposure and rallied 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. The Liberals took a commanding lead in the campaign's second week however, and remained in that position until election day.
On election day, the Liberals were elected to a majority government, winning 72 of 103 seats. The PCs fell to 24 seats, while the NDP lost official party status in the legislature.
Following the election, McGuinty asked auditor Erik Peters to examine the province's finances. Peters revealed that the outgoing administration had left a large hidden deficit.
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.
On May 18, 2004, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara released the McGuinty government's first budget. The budget was focused on health care. To pay for it, the Liberals imposed a controversial Health Premium staggered according to income. This violated a Liberal campaign pledge not to raise taxes. The Liberals defended the premium by pointing to the previous government's hidden deficit, and McGuinty claimed he needed to break this campaign pledge to fulfill other promises. The Liberals dropped badly in polls. The party later recovered in popular support, but the broken promise created a lasting difficulty for McGuinty.
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 budget were a plan to tackle the deficit left behind by the Conservatives, funding for 1000 new teachers, and a three per cent increase to those on social assistance.
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 as compromising the nature of equalization.
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.
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