Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty Resigns! - Polidicks

[URL="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/10/15/toronto-mississauga-gas-plant.html"]Source[/URL] [quote]Premier Dalton McGuinty is resigning as Ontario premier and as leader of the Liberal Party. The premier made his announcement after calling a surprise caucus meeting on Monday evening. "After 16 years as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and after nine years as premier, it’s time for renewal, it’s time for the next Liberal premier," McGuinty said. "It’s time for the next set of Liberal ideas to guide our province forward." McGuinty has served as Ontario premier since 2003. During the same announcement, McGuinty also announced that he had prorogued the legislature to give the government the opportunity to work on reaching wage-freeze agreements with public-sector workers. "Our top priority these days is, of course, the economy," McGuinty said. "This means we’ve got to eliminate the deficit and in order to do that, we’ve got to freeze public-sector wages." But the climate at Queen’s Park has made this difficult to achieve, which is why McGuinty says it was necessary to prorogue the house while the government pursues two goals. "First of all, we’re going to make a sincere and determined effort to sit down with our labour partners and see if we can negotiate wage-freeze agreements, not unlike what we’ve done for 80,000 public-sector workers so far," he said. "Secondly, we’re going to continue to reach out to the opposition to see if we can determine precisely what they would need, by way of a legislative response, to ensure that we could through legislation put in place the necessary wage freeze." McGuinty has asked the Liberal Party to call a leadership convention "at the earliest possible opportunity" and intends to stay on as premier until the party chooses a new leader.[/quote] [IMG]http://tgchan.org/kusaba/meep/src/134130458049.gif[/IMG] EDIT: More information, provided by DaCommie1. Thanks and sorry for stealing your thread! :( [URL]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/10/15/toronto-mississauga-gas-plant.html?cmp=rss[/URL] This comes after: [URL]http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/hudak-says-liberals-not-telling-truth-on-cost-of-cancelled-gas-plants-1.995886[/URL] And a month after this political suicide: [URL]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/10/11/ontario-teachers-court-challenge.html[/URL] Which was totally uncharacteristic of the Liberals. Basically, just before the Ontario election the Liberals moved the placement of a gas power plant, at a cost of ~$150 million, from a Liberal/Urban riding to a Conservative/Rural one, far away from areas that actually need power, after the constituents of the riding complained about the pollution the plant would cause. Opposition leaders from both the Conservatives and NDP said this was blatantly done to appease liberal voters in the riding, and the Liberals have never really given a real reason as to why it was moved. The Minister of Energy was found in contempt of parliament TWICE for withholding documents, and those across all of the opposition called for his and the Premier's resignation. Today the Premier announced that he is resigning, after 9 years as Premier. In my opinion, good, Dalton was an idiot who was running this province into the ground. It appears he couldn't take the pressure of actually having to cooperate with the opposition since he doesn't have a majority government anymore, and it also seems like he knows that this gas plant thing is likely to blow up in his face and make him look like a pariah. I just hope someone sensible takes his place (not likely), or that they call an election (also not likely, unless they file a confidence motion or another contempt charge is laid).

About time.

Fun and games in Ontario...

now hopefully next person will be NDP

[QUOTE=viperfan7;38052015]now hopefully next person will be NDP[/QUOTE] Please don't even joke like that!

As long as the don't tories take over I'm fine. Also, I think the NDP took over ontario once, but they fucked up and got kicked out. Can anyone provide a source for that?

Updated the OP: he also prorogued the legislature.

[QUOTE=Speedhax;38052286]As long as the don't tories take over I'm fine. Also, I think the NDP took over ontario once, but they fucked up and got kicked out. Can anyone provide a source for that?[/QUOTE] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Rae#Premier]This motherfucker Bob Rae,[/url] who is the interim Liberal leader at the federal level, was the idiot who became NDP Premier and wrecked this shit.

The Canadian Liberal party is swinging pretty far right, almost as bad as the Conservatives now. Their name is pretty much a misnomer.

[QUOTE=archangel125;38053537]The Canadian Liberal party is swinging pretty far right, almost as bad as the Conservatives now. Their name is pretty much a misnomer.[/QUOTE] I don't even know which party to vote for anymore.

I'm holding onto a vague hope that Justin Trudeau can swing it all around on a Federal level. If he runs, and if he's good, Harper won't stand a chance.

[QUOTE=DaCommie1;38052443][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Rae#Premier]This motherfucker Bob Rae,[/url] who is the interim Liberal leader at the federal level, was the idiot who became NDP Premier and wrecked this shit.[/QUOTE] We can't hold a party to old leaders. At this point, all of the big 3 have fucked up. Unless we wanna vote in the Greens or something. Besides, all thats going to happen is we get a new Liberal leader. Unless the elected leader decides to fall back into the middle we're still screwed. [QUOTE=archangel125;38053572]I'm holding onto a vague hope that Justin Trudeau can swing it all around on a Federal level. If he runs, and if he's good, Harper won't stand a chance.[/QUOTE] At this point, Harper shouldn't stand a chance against anyone. Why did people vote for him? :C

I just want my bandwidth cap gone, whoever the fuck implemented that can go suck a fuck.

[QUOTE=Speedhax;38053549]I don't even know which party to vote for anymore.[/QUOTE] Simple: Don't vote

[QUOTE=prooboo;38053770]Simple: Don't vote[/QUOTE] Here's the problem. When idiots vote just because they can, not even being able to tell the candidate's policies apart (And believe you me, it happens) and the intellectuals don't vote because they don't like either of the candidates, you get results like our elections had in the last few years. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much the candidates suck, you've got to examine both and choose the lesser of evils. [editline]15th October 2012[/editline] When Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister, he worked primarily for Canadian interests and wasn't a cocksucker for the USA. To my American friends: While I do appreciate the close relationship between our countries, one I want to keep close, sometimes our own economy needs to be less dependent on that of the USA. Harper's either a moron or getting paid off, because he's giving Canada a pretty raw deal - ESPECIALLY with the Alberta Oil Sands schtick.

How is he sucking the US's dick with the oilsands when he's trying to sell it all to China?

Jesus I didn't even know people cared about our election. So that's neat.

McGuinty is a god damn clown premiere. He can now proudly boast that he took the wealthiest province in Canada and turned it into a have-not province. He blew away billions of dollars on projects that never got anywhere, created a ton of arms-length government organizations that have absolutely no oversight, and formed a ton of shady contracts, outsourcing a lot of work and money. Why the people of Ontario continued to vote for this man, I will never know. All I know is, the average per capita (external) debt in Canada is $29,625, while for those in Ontario it sits at $47,450. If you want to know more about the retardation the Liberals subjected Ontario to, please go here: [URL]http://researchforum.ca/research-topics/economy-and-finance/public-debt/31-ontario-debt[/URL] [QUOTE=Speedhax;38052286]As long as the don't tories take over I'm fine. Also, I think the NDP took over ontario once, but they fucked up and got kicked out. Can anyone provide a source for that?[/QUOTE] Bob Rae. He dicked Ontario pretty hard, but McGuinty has officially done worse than Rae did. [QUOTE=Mr.Heal;38053654]At this point, Harper shouldn't stand a chance against anyone. Why did people vote for him? :C[/QUOTE] When the 3 federal parties (NDP, Liberal, Bloq) tried to form a coalition and take over parliament, this angered many people. They decide to try again later and hit the Conservatives with a "Contempt of Parliament" charge. It goes through because the Conservatives have a minority in the House and they are beaten. (Fun Fact: Jaques Chretien also faced a Contempt of Parliament charge, but the Liberals held a majority and voted it down) The charge forces an election. Again, people are angered, but this time because the charge is a god damn joke. It's not even a legal charge, simply a vote in the house. Next thing you know Conservatives have a majority government and it has stayed that way for some time now. Hopefully the other 3 parties learned something from this.

[QUOTE=Mr.Heal;38053654]We can't hold a party to old leaders. At this point, all of the big 3 have fucked up. Unless we wanna vote in the Greens or something. Besides, all thats going to happen is we get a new Liberal leader. Unless the elected leader decides to fall back into the middle we're still screwed. At this point, Harper shouldn't stand a chance against anyone. Why did people vote for him? :C[/QUOTE] Tell that to the Brits who still hold the Tories to Thatcher, or the Canadians who still hold the Grits to Trudeau. A leader who polarizes the voting populace, be it largely in favour of or against them, will have the party held to them for decades. I didn't like PET, I don't and won't support a leader or a legacy that sends his country's military after its own people, regardless of the reason. We have the RCMP as a national police force, and it's meant to be them or the provincial police (In the case of the FLQ crisis I'm talking about, the Sûreté du Quebec) who help a local force if they need more men, enacting Martial Law in Montreal was an atrocious response, even to terrorism. [editline]15th October 2012[/editline] Also, Prez, if you want to jack my OP from the other thread for additional background or something, go ahead, this thread obviously won.

Mcguinty's a crook and a liar, I'm relieved to see he's finally gone

Oh cool, I'm from Ontario and I didn't even know this. Shows you how much I keep up with the news.

[QUOTE=FlakAttack;38054379] When the 3 federal parties (NDP, Liberal, Bloq) tried to form a coalition and take over parliament, this angered many people. They decide to try again later and hit the Conservatives with a "Contempt of Parliament" charge. It goes through because the Conservatives have a minority in the House and they are beaten. (Fun Fact: Jaques Chretien also faced a Contempt of Parliament charge, but the Liberals held a majority and voted it down) The charge forces an election. Again, people are angered, but this time because the charge is a god damn joke. It's not even a legal charge, simply a vote in the house. Next thing you know Conservatives have a majority government and it has stayed that way for some time now. Hopefully the other 3 parties learned something from this.[/QUOTE] [video=youtube;yi1yhp-_x7A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi1yhp-_x7A[/video] Rich Mercer does it justice.

[Quote=Dalton McGuinty]Dalton McGuinty’s full statement: “Sixteen years ago, when I was elected leader of our Party, the Ontario Liberals had won exactly one election in fifty years. We couldn’t do anything to help families because we couldn’t win an election. That’s changed. We’ve won three elections in a row. But more important is what those election wins have allowed us to do. In every area that matters most to families – their schools, their health care, their environment and their economy — we’ve made huge progress. We’ve gone from struggling schools to the best schools in the English-speaking world… From Canada’s longest health-care wait times, to the shortest … From dirty air to clean air … And the toughest drinking water standards, anywhere. When it comes to the economy: We’ve made our workforce the strongest and our taxes very competitive. We’re renewing our infrastructure. We keep creating jobs. Ontario has recovered 13 per cent of our jobs lost in the recession. In the U.S., it’s 49 per cent. We’ve positioned Ontario for decades of success. Our government hasn’t been perfect. But when it comes to the big things that families count on us to get right –schools, health care, the environment and the economy — we’ve gotten it right every time. Just this afternoon, we updated Ontarians on the state of our finances. We’re once again ahead of schedule with our plan to balance the budget… We’ve beaten our budget forecasts in seven of the last nine years. I feel very good about where we are as a party and a province. But as Liberals, we’re always driving forward. The opposition’s political games are holding Ontario back. They’ve told us they oppose our plan for a two-year pay freeze for government workers. That means we can’t make it law. So, we need to go back to the drawing board. We’re going to make a sincere and determined effort to negotiate a wage freeze agreement with our labour partners. Like the agreements already reached with 80,000 public sector workers. We’re also going to consult with the opposition about what they would support to freeze wages. To this end, I’ve asked the Lieutenant Governor to prorogue the legislature to allow those discussions with our labour partners and the opposition to occur in an atmosphere that is free of the heightened rancour of politics in the legislature. And when the legislature returns, we will either have negotiated agreements in hand or a firm sense of what the opposition will support. As the party and government of relentless progress, we’re always looking for new ideas and ways to renew ourselves. And I’ve concluded that this is the right time for Ontario’s next Liberal Premier and our next set of ideas to guide our province forward. Earlier today, I asked Yasir Naqvi, our party president, to convene a leadership convention at the earliest possible time. I will remain as Premier until that leadership convention. And it will be my honour to continue to serve as the MPP for Ottawa South until the next general election. I know I’ve asked some hard things of you. But I’ve always been inspired by the ideal that the older generations work hard to build a bright future for the younger ones. And they do this, always, with love and an unwavering commitment. I saw that in my own mother and father. It’s what Terri and I have tried to do for our children. And I see it in the eyes and actions of Ontario families, every day. I thank you for the honour of serving as your Leader and your Premier… In Ontario, the greatest province in the best country in the world.”[/Quote] Dalton McGuinty also happens to be my MPP. It'll be nice to have someone -not- a McGuinty represent us for once. His father was our MP a long time ago, and his brother David is our MP now. Dunno 'bout the rest y'all but we had a pretty good deal going here in the South End :v:

[QUOTE=Mr.Heal;38054629]Rich Mercer does it justice.[/QUOTE] Not exactly. He completely neglects to mention the fact that the other 3 parties did infact intend to create a coalition and usurp government. Though it doesn't seem to be illegal, it was percieved by many to be a violation of the system, and many were wary of the precedent it would create.

[QUOTE=FlakAttack;38054721]Not exactly. He completely neglects to mention the fact that the other 3 parties did infact intend to create a coalition and usurp government. Though it doesn't seem to be illegal, it was percieved by many to be a violation of the system, and many were wary of the precedent it would create.[/QUOTE] To be fair, it was a proportionate response to Harper's government being completely batshit crazy. And what does he do now? Muzzles his MPs and cabinet so none of them say the stupid shit conservatives are prone to say, so they don't make him look bad. If any of them makes any statement he hasn't approved, he forces them to resign. [editline]15th October 2012[/editline] What a democracy.

[QUOTE=FlakAttack;38054721]Not exactly. He completely neglects to mention the fact that the other 3 parties did infact intend to create a coalition and usurp government. Though it doesn't seem to be illegal, it was percieved by many to be a violation of the system, and many were wary of the precedent it would create.[/QUOTE] Technically what the opposition did in that situation was inside the rules, but not by much. What really burned most people -especially anglophones- was that although the Bloc were not to be part of the government formed, they would support key government legislation, essentially making a separatist party a member of government. They weren't going to break the rules, but they would have certainly broken the spirit of Parliament if they had succeeded.

[QUOTE=archangel125;38054830]To be fair, it was a proportionate response to Harper's government being completely batshit crazy. And what does he do now? Muzzles his MPs and cabinet so none of them say the stupid shit conservatives are prone to say, so they don't make him look bad. If any of them makes any statement he hasn't approved, he forces them to resign. [editline]15th October 2012[/editline] What a democracy.[/QUOTE] Yes, usurping the democratically elected minority government with a post-election coalition a year afterwards because you're angry your party lost, obviously the opposition are the epitome of democratic values. If you want a coalition, run as a coalition, else accept that you lost. And just because you don't like the government, doesn't make it "batshit crazy." That comes somewhere along the lines of beginning to kill people for no reason, something no Canadian government has done. Harper runs a government that is no more or less sane than any other one we've had, and every party is going to have disagreeable policies and questionable operational procedures, need I remind people of the Sponsorship Scandal? These things don't make a government crazy, they make it run by assholes, and being an asshole is a non-partisan thing. And you act like the other parties don't muzzle their candidates too, no party is going to let an MP speak out in a stupid manner or against the party's will, and saying stupid things isn't something only Conservatives do. This is what partizan politics does, no MP can truly represent their constituents due to the enforcement of party solidarity, where you vote with the party or get kicked out of it. It's not a phenomenon unique to the Tories, ALL parties do it, and they all do it to the same degree.

[QUOTE=DaCommie1;38054995]Yes, usurping the democratically elected minority government with a post-election coalition a year afterwards because you're angry your party lost, obviously the opposition are the epitome of democratic values. If you want a coalition, run as a coalition, else accept that you lost. And just because you don't like the government, doesn't make it "batshit crazy." That comes somewhere along the lines of beginning to kill people for no reason, something no Canadian government has done. Harper runs a government that is no more or less sane than any other one we've had, and every party is going to have disagreeable policies and questionable operational procedures, need I remind people of the Sponsorship Scandal? These things don't make a government crazy, they make it run by assholes, and being an asshole is a non-partisan thing. And you act like the other parties don't muzzle their candidates too, no party is going to let an MP speak out in a stupid manner or against the party's will, and saying stupid things isn't something only Conservatives do. This is what partizan politics does, no MP can truly represent their constituents due to the enforcement of party solidarity, where you vote with the party or get kicked out of it. It's not a phenomenon unique to the Tories, ALL parties do it, and they all do it to the same degree.[/QUOTE] Harper's government has also displayed very little transparency, makes claims that are clearly not supported by facts, then backpedals when confronted. Oh, and proroguing Parliament? Undemocratic as hell. See, the parties could've run as a coalition against him if another election was called. Another election WOULD have been called, had Harper not blocked it. [editline]15th October 2012[/editline] Instead he waited until a time the other parties were at their weakest and most disorganized. That is not democratic.

[QUOTE=archangel125;38055146]Harper's government has also displayed very little transparency, makes claims that are clearly not supported by facts, then backpedals when confronted. Oh, and proroguing Parliament? Undemocratic as hell. See, the parties could've run as a coalition against him if another election was called. Another election WOULD have been called, had Harper not blocked it. [editline]15th October 2012[/editline] Instead he waited until a time the other parties were at their weakest and most disorganized. That is not democratic.[/QUOTE] Well Chretien prorogued parliament 4 times while he was PM, I can't recall the media backlash there, and Dalton has done it here as he resigns. Again, the Tories aren't some huge anti-democracy factory, if anything the numerous bullcrap calls for a new election resulting from phony reports of robocalls in over 200 ridings (I could believe a few, even 10, but over 200? That's a load of crap) caused by opponents of the government to try and force them out through the courts, and the one Liberal in Etobicoke Centre who is trying to sue the Tories out because he's angry he lost, and then he's trying to sue his own methodology as undemocratic so that he'll be the only one able to do it, are examples of something fighting the democratic ways actively, by trying to overturn an election through the courts simply because they didn't like the outcome. While the robocalls reports are not likely linked to the Liberals directly, it's very likely their supporters or those of the NDP, in the over 200 ridings making the claims because they don't want Harper in power, the Etobicoke Centre case is actually an example of a former Liberal MP deliberately trying to undermine democracy though the courts and then using the courts to try and ensure he's the only one who'll ever be able to do it. Calling an election is up to the Governor General, and can only be caused by the request of the PM, or by losing a confidence motion. Harper had neither happen at the time of the coalition talk, and they didn't want an election, they wanted to simply take power from him. The Governor General had the sense to tell them no. Harper also cannot block an election from being called, unless such is done by defeating a confidence motion. Also, the status of the "strength" of a party does not determine of an election will be democratic, as such a judgment is subjective. Democracy is about having the right to vote, if indeed the Liberals were a "weak party" at the time that does not stop people from being able to vote for them. He didn't wait to call the election until the opponents were "at their weakest," and arguably it was when the NDP were at their best, his party was defeated on a confidence motion after they were found in contempt of parliament, he did not call the election, it was called on him. I honestly get tired of senseless bashing like this, Harper is not some undemocratic dictator and the other parties are not angels in this scenario, the opposition has done and does do the exact same things he does. He has policies you disagree with, yes, he has some I disagree with too, I happen to disagree with the Liberals more, and the NDP even more, but I don't by and large call the whole party evil communist dictators, and I only bring up the examples of their "undemocratic," which can be a very subjective term, policies or practices when in an argument like this one to prove they're no better than the Tories. If you want to hate on Harper, hate on him for something he's actually done out of the ordinary, not a commonplace practice you didn't like him doing. If you disagree with the practice, blame the system, not the result of that system. [editline]15th October 2012[/editline] And transparency is a problem with all parties, it's why McGuinty's government is going down, it's why there's a large corruption investigation going on in Quebec, it's why the cost of the F-35s keep going up, and it's why the Sponsorship Scandal was a scandal, because all of these were covered up initially. Again, transparency problems are not a partisan thing, every party is opaque on issues, like the Liberals on the true costs of Gun Control when they implemented it in 1995, or the Tories on the costs of the F-35s. And on claims made with very little factual base, again, not a Tory-exclusive thing. To use the example again of Gun Control, it was a purely emotional law that the Liberals enacted, they had absolutely no factual basis to it and all their supporting arguments were emotional nonsense. Parties make laws based on emotion more than fact all the time, and again that's not a purely partisan thing.

I love Canada arguments, I learn stuff. Do continue.