After meeting Premier Dalton McGuinty for barely 45 minutes last evening, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped from his hotel room in downtown Toronto to the adjacent convention centre to attend a provincial Conservative fundraising dinner.
At the $750-a-plate dinner, he introduced the main speaker, Ontario Conservative Leader John Tory, the man who will try to unseat McGuinty in next year's provincial election.
Harper called Tory "the next premier of Ontario" and declared: "Ontario needs John Tory because a strong Canada needs a strong Ontario and because John Tory is a nation builder."
Queen's Park veterans cannot recall a previous prime minister attending such a partisan provincial event, least not having a speaking role in it.
To the best of their recollection, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin did not attend provincial Liberal fundraisers in this province, nor did Joe Clark or Brian Mulroney go to provincial Conservative fundraisers.
"What it tells you is that this is the most partisan prime minister we have seen in many years," said one seasoned Queen's Park MPP.
Nor can the juxtaposition of Harper's brief meeting with McGuinty and his attendance at the Conservative fundraiser have been accidental.
McGuinty has been trying for three months to get this meeting; it was Harper who stipulated that it take place just before the Conservative fundraiser last night — and, indeed, next door to it.
This is a prime minister who understands the power of symbolism, if his focus last week on half-mast flags and such is any guide.
So Harper was apparently sending McGuinty a message: I don't like dealing with you and Tory is my choice to replace you.
And Tory is returning the favour.
In the Legislature this week, Tory sang the praises of Harper's first budget with its "29 separate forms of tax relief" and demanded to know why the provincial Liberals weren't following suit.
To which McGuinty replied that Ontario first needs the Harper government to deliver on its promise to fix the country's "fiscal imbalance" and give this province its "fair share" of federal funding. McGuinty invited Tory to join him in pressing Harper and the federal government on this point.
Outside the Legislature, Tory fumed that McGuinty was blaming all Ontario's problems on Harper and subjecting the newly elected prime minister to "an environment of heckling and bickering and criticism."
And Tory devoted much of his keynote speech last night to this same theme.
Tory accused McGuinty and the provincial Liberals of "attacking the government of Canada in a highly partisan way," and added: "It seems that these days, if anything goes wrong anywhere in Ontario, there is a McGuinty cabinet minister not far behind, blaming Ottawa."
Tory also praised Harper for "giving us all an example that with discipline, determination and honesty, it is possible to change the culture of government in a very short time."
This is a dangerous strategy for Tory.
He is effectively hitching his star to a prime minister who is riding high right now. But what about a year from now, when Tory is in the verge of fighting his first provincial election campaign as party leader?
The shine may well be off Harper by then, if the fix of the fiscal imbalance is to Ontario's disadvantage or gasoline prices continue to rise or the high dollar is still killing manufacturing jobs in Ontario or the death toll of Canadian troops in Afghanistan is growing exponentially, or a combination of all of the above.
Clearly McGuinty relishes the idea of running an election campaign against the federal Conservative government and of linking Tory to Harper.
McGuinty almost seemed to be practising his campaign lines yesterday in the Legislature, as the Conservatives continued to badger him over his failure to "build bridges" with Ottawa and other provinces on the fiscal imbalance issue.
Said McGuinty: "I'm just not going to apologize for standing up for Ontario."
The line drew sustained applause from the Liberals benches while the Conservatives sat glowering.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...061&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467
At the $750-a-plate dinner, he introduced the main speaker, Ontario Conservative Leader John Tory, the man who will try to unseat McGuinty in next year's provincial election.
Harper called Tory "the next premier of Ontario" and declared: "Ontario needs John Tory because a strong Canada needs a strong Ontario and because John Tory is a nation builder."
Queen's Park veterans cannot recall a previous prime minister attending such a partisan provincial event, least not having a speaking role in it.
To the best of their recollection, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin did not attend provincial Liberal fundraisers in this province, nor did Joe Clark or Brian Mulroney go to provincial Conservative fundraisers.
"What it tells you is that this is the most partisan prime minister we have seen in many years," said one seasoned Queen's Park MPP.
Nor can the juxtaposition of Harper's brief meeting with McGuinty and his attendance at the Conservative fundraiser have been accidental.
McGuinty has been trying for three months to get this meeting; it was Harper who stipulated that it take place just before the Conservative fundraiser last night — and, indeed, next door to it.
This is a prime minister who understands the power of symbolism, if his focus last week on half-mast flags and such is any guide.
So Harper was apparently sending McGuinty a message: I don't like dealing with you and Tory is my choice to replace you.
And Tory is returning the favour.
In the Legislature this week, Tory sang the praises of Harper's first budget with its "29 separate forms of tax relief" and demanded to know why the provincial Liberals weren't following suit.
To which McGuinty replied that Ontario first needs the Harper government to deliver on its promise to fix the country's "fiscal imbalance" and give this province its "fair share" of federal funding. McGuinty invited Tory to join him in pressing Harper and the federal government on this point.
Outside the Legislature, Tory fumed that McGuinty was blaming all Ontario's problems on Harper and subjecting the newly elected prime minister to "an environment of heckling and bickering and criticism."
And Tory devoted much of his keynote speech last night to this same theme.
Tory accused McGuinty and the provincial Liberals of "attacking the government of Canada in a highly partisan way," and added: "It seems that these days, if anything goes wrong anywhere in Ontario, there is a McGuinty cabinet minister not far behind, blaming Ottawa."
Tory also praised Harper for "giving us all an example that with discipline, determination and honesty, it is possible to change the culture of government in a very short time."
This is a dangerous strategy for Tory.
He is effectively hitching his star to a prime minister who is riding high right now. But what about a year from now, when Tory is in the verge of fighting his first provincial election campaign as party leader?
The shine may well be off Harper by then, if the fix of the fiscal imbalance is to Ontario's disadvantage or gasoline prices continue to rise or the high dollar is still killing manufacturing jobs in Ontario or the death toll of Canadian troops in Afghanistan is growing exponentially, or a combination of all of the above.
Clearly McGuinty relishes the idea of running an election campaign against the federal Conservative government and of linking Tory to Harper.
McGuinty almost seemed to be practising his campaign lines yesterday in the Legislature, as the Conservatives continued to badger him over his failure to "build bridges" with Ottawa and other provinces on the fiscal imbalance issue.
Said McGuinty: "I'm just not going to apologize for standing up for Ontario."
The line drew sustained applause from the Liberals benches while the Conservatives sat glowering.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...061&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467
