There's no doubt Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is concerned
about the economic situation in Ontario and in the rest of Canada,
but he says he's confident about the ability of his government and
the resilience of the people of Ontario to come together to
"overcome the difficulties." In an interview with The Hill Times, he
also talks about the exodus of his ministers.
There are many stories about our economy and often conflicting
accounts. Where are we in in Ontario?
"Well, we're in, what I believe is, a beginning of a turn-around
period. The best—you know, we're running a significant deficit as
are so many other jurisdictions around the world, including across
the country. And we're in a period of significant change. That's how
I've been putting it. And Ontarians sense this intuitively but this
is our reality. We're leaving the old world behind and we're
beginning life in the new world. In the old world, we had a low
dollar. In the new world, we have a high dollar. Old world, low
energy costs."
Do you believe the dollar will remain up there for a long
time?
"I think, by and large, it'll stabilize at a higher value. In the
old world, we had low energy costs. In the new world, we'll have
high energy costs because carbon pricing will become a reality. It
has been that way in Europe for a long time now. It's coming to
North America, if not driven by Prime Minister Harper, then driven
by President Obama. Thirdly, the old world, it didn't have that many
seniors. In the new world, we're going to have an explosion in our
senior population. Baby boomers begin to retire in 2011."
And what will that mean for all of us?
"Two things in particular. No. 1, it's going to drive up a lot of
our social costs, especially health care. And it's going to mean a
tremendous weight on the shoulders of far fewer young people to
support far many older people. The next thing that I can say is that
in the old world, manufacturing was on easy street. In the new
world, they're being visited by the full consequences of
globalization. And maybe—this one's different. In the old world, the
U.S. was an economic powerhouse. In the new world, the U.S. will be
an economic powerhouse. It might take them a little bit of time to
get there, but they will do whatever is necessary to turn themselves
around and grow strong again. They will continue to be our single
most ferocious competitor for foreign direct investment in North
America."
How are you going to face this new reality?
"I think one of the responsibilities of leadership is to
understand change. And the second responsibility of leadership is to
make plans in the face of that change to find success. So, I will
allow the opposition to say, 'We don't need to do the harmonized
sales tax,' 'We don't need to make the difficult decisions we are
going to make when it comes to putting ourselves on a path towards a
balanced budget,' 'We don't need to do full-day learning for four
and five-year-olds,' and 'We don't need to invest in advanced
manufacturing.' I'll let them say that. The fact is we understand
there's an old world. They can dwell in that if they so choose. But
there's a new world. That's our reality. Our job: understand it,
plan for success in the new world, and not the old one."
In order to do that, you need a strong team and the strength
of a leader is defined by the strength of the team that he puts
together. You definitely had a good team a few years ago but now you
have lost some of the major players. Are you concerned about the
strength of your team? Are you going to have other people to replace
those leaving?
"You know what, it's only in the natural order of things that
people come and people go. But the cause is the same. Our commitment
to that cause is as strong as ever. And I've been blessed with a
very strong, large group of people, all of whom bring some
tremendous strengths to our responsibilities. So, I have lots of
people from whom to choose to give greater responsibilities should
that be required."
So, you feel comfortable with the team you have?
"Absolutely. In fairness to my backbench, for example, Ontarians
don't know much about them because they haven't been given an
opportunity to shine, to take on additional responsibilities, but
I've got some very strong people there."
In less than two years you are going to face the electorate
again. What do you believe is the main obstacle that you have to
overcome to win again?
"Well, the challenge before all of us is the economy and to put
in place a plan that will assure us of success: good standards of
living, high quality of life, sufficient revenues to support public
service, and an economy that's creating good jobs for our kids. It's
about the economy."
You also have to face now a more stabilized opposition. Is it
a concern for you?
"Well, the opposition went through a difficult period when they
were without, you know, leadership. They have that leadership now. I
expect them to be more effective and it's in the public interest
that they are more effective.
"We need to, day in and day out, participate in a collision of
ideas. That just makes for a healthier democracy. It makes for a
stronger province."
So you think that the opposition, whether it's stronger or
not, it's not going to be an obstacle for you?
"Well, you know, in some ways, today, end of the first decade of
the 21st century North America, politics is more complex
than it has ever been. We have to grapple with globalization. We've
got to grapple with a pandemic.
"We've got to grapple with an aging population. But on the other
hand, politics remains a simple undertaking for me. I just do the
best that I can. I work as hard as I can. I try to make the right
decision all the time and at the end of the day, people get to make
the call. So, I'll just keep doing that regardless of the opposition
and whatever strategies they might peruse or positions that they
might adopt. I'll just—this is who I am. This is what government is
all about. I will make mistakes from time to time. I have a
government that is made up entirely of people and people, from time
to time, make mistakes. I think my responsibility is to own up to
those, to take steps to ensure they're not repeated."
(The interview was taped before george Smitherman's
resignation)
