Ontario has its first premier named an international sex symbol, but this novel rating should not be accepted entirely at face value. Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty has been chosen as a ?hottie? among world politicians by a British newspaper that pointed out while still under 50, he leads Canada?s most populous province.
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ERIC DOWD |
The term, for those unfamiliar with current jargon, means someone considered sexy, a male earlier generations would have called a hunk, heartthrob, ladies? man or matinee idol when movies drew large afternoon audiences.
This accolade is not as impressive as it sounds, first because looks are a matter of personal taste and beauty in the eye of the beholder and the
paper picked McGuinty from photographs of politicians.
On a good day in a favorable light, the premier can appear reasonably presentable, but other times looks angular and gawky and in need of a good meal, although he always impresses as the youngish man known to have power among mostly older-looking guys.
But when the Progressive Conservatives ran TV ads charging McGuinty was ?not up to the job,? they had no trouble finding a photograph in which he could be considered furtive, untrustworthy and cornered, like a criminal in a police mug shot.
McGuinty has been called sexy before. Briefly when he was in Opposition newspapers reported Liberal insiders were finding women saying this in their polls The Liberals were considered more popular with women than premier Mike Harris? Tories, but this was attributed to his cutting social programs and being personally harsh and confrontational.
The Liberals claimed women also felt McGuinty was sexy and ?fetching,? but this did not stampede them to vote for him in the 1999 election, because Harris retained his majority.
McGuinty also was said to look like Hollywood actor Anthony Perkins He was lean, even emaciated and brooding, and best known for his role as Norman Bates, the deranged hotel-keeper who murdered the heroine in a shower in the movie Psycho. The Bates character was so notorious New Democrat leader Howard Hampton tried to link McGuinty to it in an election and complained Liberal propagandists seeking to boost McGuinty were ?trying to turn Norman Bates into John Wayne? but the Liberals objected and forced an apology.
The murder in the shower also recently was voted the most terrifying movie scene ever ? this was definitely not the face a girl would yearn to take home to mother.
The only other Ontario premier called sexy was Liberal David Peterson, who was tall and had regular features, although prematurely grey.
A magazine gushed he was `beautiful in the style of a Gainsborough portrait, with Cupid?s-bow mouth and large, expressive eyes,? and a newspaper called him a lean, mean sexy machine. But Peterson won only one election, while Tory premier William Davis, who was clean-cut and sturdily built as a former university football player but never called handsome or dashing, won four.
Canadians also should not place a lot of reliance in the judgment of British media. This writer covered Canada for almost all major British papers for more than two decades. They knew little about Canada and were prone to report prime minister Brian Mulroney?s marriage was in imminent danger of breaking up, whereas many years later it still is intact, and Prince Andrew at school near Peterborough risked being torn apart by bears. They
have bears in Canada, don?t they?
Eric Dowd is a veteran member of the Queen?s Park press gallery.
