Kathleen Wynne maintains government must be 'a force for good'

spaminator

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Kathleen Wynne maintains government must be 'a force for good'
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Apr 07, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 2 minute read • 34 Comments
Former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne defends her decisions as Premier at Queens' Park, in Toronto, Ont. on Monday Dec. 3, 2018.
Former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne defends her decisions as Premier at Queens' Park, in Toronto, Ont. on Monday Dec. 3, 2018. PHOTO BY STAN BEHAL /TORONTO SUN FILES
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The warmth and insight that helped Kathleen Wynne become the province’s first female premier was evident in her farewell speech Thursday to the Ontario Legislature.

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The MPP for Don Valley West will not seek re-election in the June 2 vote.

Wynne used what she acknowledged could be her last time speaking in the House to defend the value of politicians, to thank the people who supported her and to provide valuable advice to new MPPs.

“I’m here because I believe that government exists to do the things that people cannot do for themselves; I’m here because government should be a force for good in people’s lives; and I’m here because this institution with all its weaknesses and flaws, but this institution, the rules that govern us and the debates in this legislature, are actually the stuff of peace, order and good government,” Wynne said. “That’s how it gets done.”

Wynne expressed gratitude to her parents, three children, grandchildren and her partner, saying there would be no Kathleen Wynne without Jane Rounthwaite.

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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne waves to supporters during the WorldPride Parade in Toronto, Sunday June 29, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Van Paassen)
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne waves to supporters during the WorldPride Parade in Toronto, Sunday June 29, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Van Paassen)
Wynne was an activist parent and then school trustee who ran for provincial parliament in 2003.

She moved quickly through the ranks of the Dalton McGuinty government, and then defeated several high-profile Liberal MPPs to succeed him when he resigned.

“His decency and his calm were a model to his team,” Wynne said of McGuinty. “He was unflinching in his commitment to the children of this province, he was unyielding in his determination to leave the province in better shape than we found it — the greenbelt, a rebuilt school system, clean coal-free air.”

In 2013, Wynne became the first woman and openly gay premier of Ontario, and then went on to win a majority government in 2014.

Wynne said she strived to continue McGuinty’s good work for children.

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“I remember the pain of acknowledging and apologizing for the injustice and deep harm done to Indigenous children robbed of their childhood and sometimes their lives because of residential schools,” Wynne said, her voice breaking up with emotion.

With voters growing tired of years of Liberal rule, an enduring gas plant scandal and soaring hydro bills, Wynne and her party were reduced to the “minivan” party, losing official party status in 2018.

“I’m under no illusion that I have made the best decision at every turn in the past 19 years,” Wynne said. “I know that I have made mistakes … you only have to look at my social media feeds to gauge just how many people see me as a deeply flawed human. But here’s the thing, we all are … We are all here trying to find the best way forward.”

aartuso@postmedia.com
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
35,667
3,002
113
Kathleen Wynne maintains government must be 'a force for good'
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Apr 07, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 2 minute read • 34 Comments
Former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne defends her decisions as Premier at Queens' Park, in Toronto, Ont. on Monday Dec. 3, 2018.
Former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne defends her decisions as Premier at Queens' Park, in Toronto, Ont. on Monday Dec. 3, 2018. PHOTO BY STAN BEHAL /TORONTO SUN FILES
Article content
The warmth and insight that helped Kathleen Wynne become the province’s first female premier was evident in her farewell speech Thursday to the Ontario Legislature.

Advertisement 2
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
The MPP for Don Valley West will not seek re-election in the June 2 vote.

Wynne used what she acknowledged could be her last time speaking in the House to defend the value of politicians, to thank the people who supported her and to provide valuable advice to new MPPs.

“I’m here because I believe that government exists to do the things that people cannot do for themselves; I’m here because government should be a force for good in people’s lives; and I’m here because this institution with all its weaknesses and flaws, but this institution, the rules that govern us and the debates in this legislature, are actually the stuff of peace, order and good government,” Wynne said. “That’s how it gets done.”

Wynne expressed gratitude to her parents, three children, grandchildren and her partner, saying there would be no Kathleen Wynne without Jane Rounthwaite.

Advertisement 3
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne waves to supporters during the WorldPride Parade in Toronto, Sunday June 29, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Van Paassen)
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne waves to supporters during the WorldPride Parade in Toronto, Sunday June 29, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Van Paassen)
Wynne was an activist parent and then school trustee who ran for provincial parliament in 2003.

She moved quickly through the ranks of the Dalton McGuinty government, and then defeated several high-profile Liberal MPPs to succeed him when he resigned.

“His decency and his calm were a model to his team,” Wynne said of McGuinty. “He was unflinching in his commitment to the children of this province, he was unyielding in his determination to leave the province in better shape than we found it — the greenbelt, a rebuilt school system, clean coal-free air.”

In 2013, Wynne became the first woman and openly gay premier of Ontario, and then went on to win a majority government in 2014.

Wynne said she strived to continue McGuinty’s good work for children.

Advertisement 4
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Article content
“I remember the pain of acknowledging and apologizing for the injustice and deep harm done to Indigenous children robbed of their childhood and sometimes their lives because of residential schools,” Wynne said, her voice breaking up with emotion.

With voters growing tired of years of Liberal rule, an enduring gas plant scandal and soaring hydro bills, Wynne and her party were reduced to the “minivan” party, losing official party status in 2018.

“I’m under no illusion that I have made the best decision at every turn in the past 19 years,” Wynne said. “I know that I have made mistakes … you only have to look at my social media feeds to gauge just how many people see me as a deeply flawed human. But here’s the thing, we all are … We are all here trying to find the best way forward.”

aartuso@postmedia.com
one less corrupt politician.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Former Ontario Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne has belatedly acknowledged one of her biggest mistakes was her failure to listen to warnings about how her government’s green energy policies would increase the cost of electricity.

Unfortunately, it comes too late to do the people of Ontario any good.

But it might serve as a warning to Canadians elsewhere about what happens to taxpayers and hydro consumers when their governments at both the provincial and federal levels pursue green energy policies without understanding the costs.

What happens is that everyone suffers.

“But I remember sitting beside Gerry Phillips (Dalton McGuinty’s minister of energy at the time) in many meetings and he would say ‘We’re piling up a lot of debt here. Electricity prices are going to have to go up. How are we going to pay for this?’ I heard it. But as a member of caucus and cabinet, I don’t think I took it seriously enough.

“Then when I was premier, obviously the fact I made the decision to sell off part of Hydro One fed into that — the conflation of those issues. It was absolutely a huge factor in my downfall.”

In Ontario under McGuinty and Wynne, their now-scrapped Green Energy Act contributed to a doubling of electricity prices in a decade, cost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing sector and increased energy poverty.

That occurs when families have to struggle financially just to heat, light and power their homes, weighing those costs against other necessities such as rent and food.

According to two Ontario auditors general reports, the Liberal government, ignoring the advice of its own experts, overpaid $9.2 billion for green energy — buying it at two times the U.S. average price for wind power and 3.5 times for solar power.

Because the 20-year contracts it signed with green energy developers required that these expensive and intermittent forms of energy had to be purchased first by the system operator, before all other forms of energy, the electricity grid became less efficient.

Then the Liberals played election politics with taxpayers’ money, cancelling two politically unpopular natural gas power plants needed to back up wind energy.

Whoopsies!!

That resulted in a billion-dollar scandal and the jailing of a senior Liberal political aide to McGuinty for destroying government documents.

The one thing the Liberals did right — eliminating the use of coal to produce 25% of Ontario’s electricity — was accomplished using nuclear power, which doesn’t emit greenhouse gases, and natural gas, which burns at half the carbon intensity of coal.

Wind and solar power weren’t needed to do the job. They were a hugely expensive boondoggle and paying for them will haunt Ontario taxpayers and hydro consumers for decades to come.

Oh well.