With Dalton McGuinty’s abrupt resignation, Stephen Harper has now outlasted every sitting Premier in power when he took office. Hell, Alberta has seen two regicides during this period:
John Hamm (succeeded by Rodney MacDonald in 2006, who was defeated by Darrel Dexter in 2009)
Bernard Lord (defeated by Shawn Graham in 2006, in turn defeated by David Alward in 2010)
Ralph Klein (succeeded by Ed Stelmach in 2006, succeeded by Alison Redford in 2011)
Pat Binns (defeated by Robert Ghiz in 2007)
Lorne Calvert (defeated by Brad Wall in 2007)
Gary Doer (succeeded by Greg Selinger in 2009)
Danny Williams (succeeded by Kathy Dunderdale in 2010)
Gordon Campbell (succeeded by Christy Clark in 2011)
Jean Charest (defeated by Pauline Marois in 2012)
Dalton McGuinty (announced resignation in 2012)
The Premiers Harper sat down with after taking office as PM (or would have sat down with if he was into that sort of thing) is one of the most talented groups of Premiers the country has ever seen. You may not like Jean Charest, Danny Williams, or Ralph Klein, but you can’t question their political abilities. Gary Doer, Dalton McGuinty, and Gordon Campbell each lasted a decade in power. Bernard Lord is a former future Prime Minister. John Hamm is the reason Canadians tune into Mad Men every week.
But despite all that talent, they’ve fallen one by one. And the boring lobbyist from Calgary, who no one ever expected anything from, outlasted them all.
3 responses to “The Changing Face of Provincial Politics”
It’d be nice if Dalton actually took responsibility for the power plant scandal and said he was stepping down because he can’t be premier anymore after such a screw up.
I would love to have seen this government fall in the traditional confidence vote then go to tne polls. This man make Rae days look good … How can he claim to have got “the big things right” when Ontario is a have-not province now, has crazy high power bills for poorly conceived green energy, and a 14 billion dollar deficit. Like all Liberals he spent like a drunk sailor a d now that the bls are due he’s left it to someone else to clean up the mess. Pity the Ontario voter who was duped into voting for this guy and all Ontario taxpayers who are on the hook for the mess.
I’d argue anyone who is given a third term after running on his record is likely doing some things right.
I may not like Stephen Harper, but it says a lot that Canadians don’t seem tired of him.