Posted by Sudbury Northern Life 
Premier Dalton McGuinty has been accused of installing
one-man rule in Ontario, and he needs reminding all a party's
brains are not a premier's corner office.
Progressive Conservative interim leader Bob Runciman said the
Liberal premier is refusing to give his backbench MPPs the
chance to say what they think about policies, and there is some
evidence of this.
Runciman pointed out Conservative MPPs are being deluged in
their ridings with protests against the Liberals' plan to
"harmonize" the province's sales tax with the federal goods and
services tax, making it more efficient for business, but
payable on more products and services.
The Conservative leader said Liberal MPPs must be swamped with
similar complaints, but none has been willing to say so in
public and, because the Liberals have a majority in the
legislature, an important voice is not being heard.
The Liberal MPPs also have been up to their necks in the
complaints, and some have told McGuinty, in the privacy of
their party's caucus, they are worried it will hurt their
chances of winning the next election in 2011 and even the tax
is unfair, but none has said this publicly.
One also passed this onto a newspaper and McGuinty responded
angrily he would never make public confidential discussions in
his caucus, a warning he would deal severely with whomever
informed the media.
In a similar incident a year ago, a Liberal backbencher leaked
to news media some backbenchers had complained in caucus that
the premier was creating unnecessary controversy, by such acts
as promising to stop MPPs reciting The Lord's Prayer at the
start of daily sessions of the legislature. McGuinty warned
then he did not want his MPPs talking for public consumption on
such issues.
McGuinty's MPPs, in fact, have dissented rarely, publicly or
privately, and less often then those in previous governments,
first out of gratitude, because he has led them successfully,
winning two majority governments in a row and continuing high
in polls.
The back benchers do not want to suggest their party lacks
unity, which might hurt McGuinty's chances of winning the next
election and their own, because those running for MPP depend a
lot on their leader's image.
They also want to protect their prospects of being promoted to
cabinet, because even the most pedestrian backbenchers usually
have ambitions one day to be in cabinet.
Everyone who ran for leader of any political party in Ontario
in decades also has promised to give MPPs more opportunity to
speak their minds, and that includes McGuinty.
But almost inevitably they forgot their promises, because it is
more convenient to run a government without having to consult
several dozen elected politicians.
Mike Harris, Conservative premier from 1995-2002, once
described caucus as a place where "Premier William Davis would
call us all in and tell us what we had decided to do."
McGuinty has backroom aides he relies on particularly for
advice, and obviously they are doing many things right, but
they have made mistakes.
The premier has just had to back down on a plan to require
every owner selling a home to provide an audit, costing about
$300, showing how energy-efficient it is, which would be useful
to buyers, but an extra burden on home-owners already feeling
pinched.
McGuinty said because times are tough for business he would
delay a promise to increase the minimum wage even to a meager
$10.25 an hour next March, but someone reminded him the poor
cannot wait either.
The premier thought it would be fairer if MPPs stopped reciting
The Lord's Prayer at the daily start of the legislature, until
he was persuaded many would miss it and prayers of other
religions could be added.
The premier should have learned his unelected gurus in their
ivory tower have their roles, but he should encourage his MPPs
to speak up, because few understand better what the public
wants. They also are cheaper than hiring a pollster.
Eric Dowd is is a veteran member of the Queen's Park press gallery.
