"The electorate told our federal cousins that what they did was not good enough"
An interview with Ontario
premier Dalton McGuinty. To Mr. Harper: "Address the $23-billion
gap"
by Angelo Persichilli
THE HILL TIMES
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who is ready to cooperate with Canada’s new Prime Minister Stephen Harper, says he’s still convinced that the fiscal gap of $23-billion between the province of Ontario and Ottawa is unacceptable and it will be ad the centre of the discussion.
In an interview with The Hill Times last week, Mr. McGuinty said that he’s already had conversations with Quebec premier Jean Charest and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell in order to gather some "intelligence" about "Mr. Harper’s plan to solve the fiscal imbalance" but also said he still believes that this issue is very hard to discuss together with other provinces and Ottawa because "we approach this from a different perspective."
What
is your assessment of the federal election’s results?
"Every time Canadians go to the polls to vote, always they give us
reasons for optimism. It will be a huge mistake to underestimate the
collective wisdom of Canadian voters. There are few, very simple messages
now. To my cousins in the federal Liberal Party they said, 'You have to do
better, what you did was not good enough.’ "
And
what’s the message to the federal Liberals?
"It is my sincere hope that the federal Liberal Party will take the
time, and all the time necessary, to regroup, rebuild and once again
inspire confidence in all Canadians and, by the way, you can’t just
change the rims on the car, while the car is running; you have to put the
car up to the hoist. The second thing the voters said was to the
Conservatives, ‘We will give you a shot, but don’t be carried away.’
"
And
the message for you?
"Well, what the voters told me was to find a way to work with the new
administration in a way that serves the people of Ontario. And we will do
that."
Do
you believe that this was a vote against the Liberals or in favour of the
Conservatives?
"It was a combination of both.
I believe that the message to the Liberals was that there was real room
for improvement. And it was time for them to get time out, go back and
regroup, and come up with some good reasons to inspire again some public
confidence. The party was not decimated. There are still good foundations
there to build on, but clearly our voters told us that we could and we
should be doing better."
Is
it true that you do not want provincial Liberals not involved in the
upcoming federal Liberal leadership?
"We had a good discussion in the caucus about this and that’s
what we are going to do. Caucus members will be free to involve themselves
in the federal leadership contest, on the condition that they will not
allow that involvement to get in the way of the duty they owe to the
constituents in their capacity as members of the [provincial] government,
and on condition that they will not allow their involvement in the federal
leadership contest to get in the way of their duty or to the Ontario
Liberal Party. They have to be sure that their party is strong, and can
successfully win our re-election."
According
to conventional wisdom, Ontarians want a Liberal government at Queen’s
Park if they have a Tory government in Ottawa. The Jan. 23 results might
be a good news for you.
"Some people said that
according to conventional wisdom the people of Ontario are happy to oppose
political stripes at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill. However, I
believe that the election in 2007 is really going to be about the
performance of our government and weather we were able to deliver results
to people in sectors like education and health care and the economy. We
are working hard in all those sectors."
Some
of your ministers told me some time ago that the future of your government
is tied up with the future of Medicare. Do you agree?
"I think that Medicare will always be important to the people.
The way I see it is that education represents hope for you, your family,
and the children, and health care represents security. People want quality
and affordable assistance when they need it. We have invested close to
$5-billion more in Medicare and we brought some real improvements in the
quality of the service. We are still in the middle of changing the process
but we are moving. For the first time, last year we’ve issued more
licences to foreign-trained doctors than Ontario-trained doctors, and we
have many more newly-funded programs."
Once
you said that the funding for Medicare in Ontario was skyrocketing. And
you asked yourself how far are we supposed to go. Do you now have that
answer?
"When I arrived at Queen’s Park 15 years ago, about one-third
of program spending was going to health care. Today, it is almost
one-half. It is a combination of doing more and providing assistance in a
way that it is less expensive."
How?
"For example, establishing 150
family health teams. It is a group of doctors, nurses and others so that
somebody on the team will be available 24/7. We have too many people with
minor ailments going to emergency rooms. Furthermore, we are creating more
opportunities in the homes by expanding community-based care."
You
spoke with the new Prime Minister Stephen Harper. What did you tell him?
"It was just a congratulatory conversation. He is very busy, but
I have extended him an invitation to talk at his earliest convenience to
talk about the fiscal imbalance, what we in Ontario call the $23-billion
gap."
The
issue of the fiscal imbalance will be discussed with Ottawa together with
other provinces or you go on your own?
"I believe that in an ideal world we would like to resolve this
together. That’s not going to be easy because we approach this from a
different perspective. There are the have Provinces and the have not
provinces. Our issue is very simple: ten years ago Ontarians were sending
two billion dollars to Ottawa, now they send 23 billions that are spent in
other parts of the country. I’ve also spoken to Mr. Charest and premier
Campbell. I wanted to know what kind of intelligence they have when it
came to Mr. Harper’s plan to solve the fiscal imbalance."
Did
you get the information you need?
"We had a very good conversation but I can’t tell you any more
then that."
