McGuinty Doesn’t Endorse Dion, Liberals
Posted September 8, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
On Monday, the Ontario Premier revealed who he thought would make the next best Prime Minister.
The only problem? Dalton McGuinty didn’t choose the Liberal candidate. In fact, he refused to name any leader at all.
“Ontarians deserve a fair shake when it comes to federal funding for laid-off workers and health transfers, economic development. Families depend on those programs and services, especially in challenging economic times,” the Liberal premier outlined.
“Ontarians aren’t looking for special treatment. We’re looking for the same treatment. We’re looking for, we’re demanding fairness.”
McGuinty wants to use the federal election campaign to get a better financial deal for the province, including a change to equalization payments. He claims Ontario is shortchanged billions of dollars each year on everything from employment insurance to health transfers.
To that end, he refused to endorse the federal Liberals, instead saying he’ll ask each party leader how they plan to address his province’s concerns.
Ontario’s opposition parties say McGuinty’s campaign is a smokescreen to distract attention from the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs.
Stephane Dion’s party held 95 seats when Parliament was dissolved. There are 308 up for grabs on October 14. The Conservatives had 127, the Bloc 48, and the NDP had 30 before the writ was dropped. Four seats were vacant, there were three independent MPs in the house, and the Green party had one lone seat.
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