Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty Resigns, prorogues legislature

[Netjet!]

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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.

What do all the Ontarians here think?

[Wayward Vagabond]

i dont know aye

[Patashu]

'wage freeze' yeah that's what we need, lower wages

[Wayward Vagabond]

Originally Posted by Patashu

'wage freeze' yeah that's what we need, lower wages

when i think wage freeze i imagine all the money being put into freezers

[Winrar]

Originally Posted by Wayward Vagabond

when i think wage freeze i imagine all the money being put into freezers

They're pronounced igloos.

[Wayward Vagabond]

what a weird way to pronounce freezers

[Bluearrowll]

Quite surprised, but I must say the most recent 20,000 page exposure related to the power plant cancellation probably sealed his coffin. He was going to be an increasingly unpopular premier until election regardless.

whoa holy shit what. is there anything that lead up to this (ie is he being more or less forced to resign out of public outcry or something) or is he just randomly stepping down? i wish i still had tv, heh heh.

In the last provincial election, McGuinty cancelled an unpopular power plant construction in Oakville and moved it to kingston to "win" 5 seats in that area, helping him become re-elected. Meanwhile, taxpayers are on the hook for at least $700 million because of the scandal.

[kommisar]

the new brunswick convervative government is also trying to freeze public sector wages (that's me!)


what a bunch of bs. both liberals and conservatives are anti-union and don't really care about the middle class trying to negotiate reasonable wages and benefits.

mcguinty has the same mentality from what I've read on him.

[Spenner]

I wonder who'll start to clean up after him, i guess. What a goober.

[Pseudo Enigma]

Originally Posted by Winrar

They're pronounced igloos.

That's not how you say home.

Anyway, I hope this is a positive change. I would hate for shit to get tougher here. I'm half and half on this.

[Dynam0]

I'll be a certified teacher (should be) at the end of this year and this new legislature he passed means it'll take me at least 3 years before I get a permanent position teaching in Ontario.

It's like he let out a nasty fart and then left the room for everyone else to deal with it...blah

[kommisar]

Is that a rule proper to Ontario? I know teachers here who had full time jobs after a year of substituting

[Dynam0]

Yeah landing a job is hard as it is if you're specialized in English and History like 75% of everyone else (I have Chem/Physics as teachables and I'm getting my Math next year)

In Ontario now, you need to have a year of substituting and then 16 months on the LTO list (Long-Term Occasional list) before they even consider you for a full-time position. They used to hire anyone from the LTO list or sometimes directly from the supply lists but in an attempt to cut down on nepotism, they changed the rules

[kommisar]

I don't see how that's helping them secure proper education for children if they're giving potential staff such a hard time lmao

[ddr_f4n]

Originally Posted by Bluearrowll

In the last provincial election, McGuinty cancelled an unpopular power plant construction in Oakville and moved it to kingston to "win" 5 seats in that area, helping him become re-elected. Meanwhile, taxpayers are on the hook for at least $700 million because of the scandal.

I remember partly the reason why the plant in Oakville was moved because of all the protest that was going on around here that really didn't allow em to work there (since it was going to be build REALLY close to a residential and school zone, those were the two big reasons why)

[Pseudo Enigma]

oi what's all that stuff that was supposed to make the teachers strike? I don't pay attention, but all I know is that teachers were being forced to accept something from McGuinty and they didn't want to do extracurriculars because of it.

What's the deal with that now, is it going to change because of this?

[Cavernio]

My fiance, being in IT for the New Brunswick government, is not unioned and so he's been under a wage freeze for 2 years already, (maybe 3? been too long) going into another one presumably. He was supposed to get nominal increases every year, and he was supposed to have the opportunity to jump up that scale if his performance review is excellent. It sucks because the wage freeze was supposed to only be for management, (well, targeted at management,) people who make twice his salary.
It's ridiculous how much money they spend in order to save money. Like when they found out that there were 2 printers for every person working in the department of transportation, they decided that was way too many. So they got rid of all the old printers and bought far fewer new ones.
And in this big surge to improve efficiency, they hire outside office specialists to help out, giving helpful advice just like this, in very serious meetings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvpdr...eature=related
All the while they make my fiance make changes to the new inventory system because people bitch about it. Of course those changes make it easier for people to "lose track" of parts, undoing one of the reasons it was made.

[kommisar]

well i'm unionized and funded by the new brunswick provincial government, and I'm still victim of a wage freeze

[Dynam0]

Originally Posted by Pseudo Enigma

oi what's all that stuff that was supposed to make the teachers strike? I don't pay attention, but all I know is that teachers were being forced to accept something from McGuinty and they didn't want to do extracurriculars because of it.

What's the deal with that now, is it going to change because of this?

Basically, the Catholic schooling system 'negotiated' an agreement with the government on the wage/sick days freezes and new policy (ie. they're just taking it up the ass)

The public system however, after reading the 'agreement' that they really hadn't had a say in yet, found out that the new laws render them unable to strike for those 2 years or even negotiate Bill 115. This bill was basically passed without any prior negotiations or notification to the board, and the government is making it illegal to strike or even challenge the bill. The public school boards saw this and immediately made it a point that this goes against Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, so they're currently in a lawsuit with the government on the whole thing. Since teachers can't 'legally' strike right now, anything that isn't in their job description for what they get paid to do they simply aren't doing (ie. stopping all extra-curricular stuff, clubs, etc.)

Of course interpretations and implementations of this new 'law' vary dramatically across the province.