October 27, 2003
They’re all the same. That’s what many people say about politicians and governments. Well, we now have a new premier and a new government in Ontario, and even before taking office, Premier Dalton McGuinty has shown that there is absolutely no similarity between the government that he will run, and the Harris/Eves government.
McGuinty has made it clear from the outset that this provincial government will be far more intrusive into the private lives of Ontario residents than the previous government has been. Not only that, but they will be more intrusive and interfering than their federal cousins. While the federal Liberals love to tax and spend, they are more leery of interfering with the rights of ordinary people than McGuinty is. This stems from the fact that the Chrétien Liberals number one priority is the Chrétien Liberals. The feds are masters at balancing in order to maximize their support throughout the country. Besides it’s hard to interfere with the rights of ordinary citizens when you’re constantly on an Irving-paid vacation.
Even before he was sworn in as premier, McGuinty announced that he was going to put a stop to the construction of housing on the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine, an area located just north of Toronto. The previous Tory government had designated part of the moraine for the construction of 6,600 homes and developers have already spent megabucks on readying the property for building. One company, Aspen Ridge Homes, has sold 200 homes to prospective buyers. One article that reported on McGuinty’s plans quoted high profile lawyer, Clayton Ruby, who is acting for Environment Defence Canada as saying, " The constitution in Canada does not protect property rights." Ruby is right about the constitution, but the significance of his statement in the context that he made it is that Dalton McGuinty has no respect for property rights. He doesn’t care about the money that "big business" has spent in developing the property, all in accordance with the law. And he doesn’t seem to give two hoots about those people, who in good faith, have made down payments to purchase their future homes.
While still the premier-designate, McGuinty effectively backed himself into a corner. If he reneges on his threats to stop the development that is started, he will be accused of the environmentalists, one of the many special interest groups that he is beholden to, of reneging on an election promise. And if he goes ahead and stops the development, we will effectively have caused several multi-million dollar lawsuits--all as a result of acts that started before he was sworn in. But in Dalton’s nanny state--he knows best.
Another of McGuinty’s quests to run people’s lives involves the issue of smoking. The Liberals plan to ban smoking in all public places, including outdoors in front of government buildings. No real scientific or medical basis for that other than Dalton wants to do it. Plus, he is going, in his party’s words, to increase the "cost" of cigarettes. All in an effort to help the helpless give up the habit. Now even the Premier can’t control the retail or wholesale price of smokes. All McGuinty can do to raise the "cost" is to increase provincial taxes and rumour has it that they will increase by $10 a carton. This is the same McGuinty who looked longingly into the camera during those election commercials and said "I won’t raise your taxes". McGuinty has no more respect for smokers as taxpayers than he does for property rights. Just as the 18th century American phrase "all men are created equal" was never meant to apply to women and slaves, McGuinty’s "I won’t raise your taxes" was never meant to apply to smokers. Those who smoke are not full citizens in the eyes of the new premier. And he accuses the previous Tory government of being divisive.
McGuinty will also bring in plans to ban junk food in elementary schools. While this appears to be a noble effort, it is just the start of a slippery slope that will see the interventionist Liberals attempt to control what you eat and how you raise your children.
What can we expect in Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario? Don’t worry--Uncle Dalty will tell us.