Home » Politics & Society » Canadian Politics » Ontario Premier Resigns

Ontario Premier Resigns

© Rhonda Parkinson

In October, Ontario voters found out that they would soon have a new leader. Michael Harris announced that he would be resigning as head of the Progressive Conservative party. Harris cited personal reasons for stepping down at this time. (He is attempting a reconciliation with his wife following a two-year separation). The move was clearly not a surprise to Cabinet members; many have spent the last few months quietly orchestrating their own leadership bid. Possible contenders to replace Harris include Jim Flaherty, Elizabeth Mitmer, and Tony Clement, the Ministers of Finance, Environment, and Health respectively. As for Harris, he will remain as the Member of Parliament for Nipissing, the riding he has represented since first being elected in 1981. However, he is not expected to run in the next provincial election.

Harris leaves a mixed legacy. First elected in 1995, he wasted no time in implementing the right-of-centre platform that won him a majority government and nearly forty-five percent of the popular vote. Tax cuts, balancing the budget, and cuts to social programs were the order of the day. As in Alberta following the election of the Klein government, cuts to spending in areas such as education resulted in public protests. Particularly contentious was the Education Quality Improvement Act, commonly known as Bill 160. The government stated that measures outlined in the Act - such as adding ten instructional days to the school year and taking away the power of local boards to increase class sizes - would improve the quality of education. Critics argued that the Bill was actually an attempt to reduce education costs by centralizing power. Parents, as usual, were caught in the middle. Taking note of the growing unrest in Ontario, the federal Liberals were careful to position themselves as a counterpoint to the Harris cost-cutting agenda. While remaining committed to deficit reduction, Finance Minister Paul Martin’s March, 1996, budget included a large allocation of funds for youth unemployment.

Despite the protests in Ontario, Harris was re-elected in 1999, enjoying back-to-back majorities. However, cracks in Harris’ leadership had begun to appear before the election, beginning with his backpeddling on the issue of compensation for the Dionne quintuplets. It was only after intense media scrutiny that Harris offered the three surviving quintuplets a generous settlement - considerably more than the $2,000 he had originally insisted was his “final” offer. Fast on the heels of the 1999 election came the standoff at Ipperwash, where OPP officers shot Stoney native Dudley George. Then there was the tragedy at Walkerton, where seven people died and hundreds of others became ill in May of 2000 after drinking water contaminated with e-coli bacteria. Many believe that the ultimate responsibility for this tragedy lies squarely with cuts to the Ministry of Environment and privatization of water testing – policies that were either initiated or continued after the Conservatives came to power in 1995. A final report by the Commission inquiring into the tragedy – to be delivered by early next year - is not expected to be favorable to the provincial government.