It has been clear since the October 2011 election that the McGuinty led Liberals did not want to govern as a minority as they tried to push the opposition around and act as a majority, finally taking that step by proroguing Queens Park last fall only to govern without any accountability for their actions. Following the leadership convention at the end of January small signs have been sent that maybe, just maybe the Liberals are ready to listen to the opposition. We will have a good idea if this will happen when Kathleen Wynne announces her cabinet tomorrow at Queen’s Park. Ms. Wynne has already stated that she will continue the McGuinty legacy – this is NOT good news for the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians that are out of work. Just how Ms. Wynne will govern will be heard when all MPPs return to their seats on Tuesday February 19th with the speech from the throne.
Whether the Liberal’s embrace bold ideas from Tim Hudak or more spending from Andrea Horwath will determine how long this government lasts. Questions also will abound with two seats becoming empty on the government side next week with Dwight Duncan and Chris Bentley resigning leaving the minority a bit shakier. I am interested to see how the government will look with the former Premier sitting and observing from the back benches, or if the MPP from Ottawa South will even sit in his newly assigned chair.
Many questions abound heading into the next weeks in Ontario. The answers will come when we see which way the government sways.
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In an astonishing move, Wynne intends to appoint herself as Agriculture minister.
Nothing shows Liberals contempt for rural citizens like this; like the Bourbons they have learned nothing and forgotten nothing. As Christina Blizzard reports London Free Press
” how much she likes farming and how her dad used to go to a farm every summer and how she still knows people who are farmers. She likes them. She really likes them.”
All indications are that Wynne is on board with McGuinty’s industrialization of croplands with wind power plants. This will ensure that Liberals are shut out of the countryside for at least a generation.