Former Conservative Premier, Ernie Eves, once described Dalton McGuinty as having definite tendencies towards the rodent population. But... that was on the very same night Dalton was handing Eve's a righteous ass kicking at the polls. The Conservative Party hasn't really been the same since that night in 2003.

Ontario isn't the same, either. McGuinty would say the province is better off for having two straight Liberal majorities, but remember Eves really sucked as Premier and Ontario was in bad shape when Dalton scrambled to the top of the heap. And now, six years later, we're worse.

Seventy-one thousand Ontarian jobs were lost in January of 2009 alone - gone, poof.

I thought those jobs and the economy brought the Premier to London. I was wrong.

The Green Energy Act and a $600 dollar per table Chamber of Commerce fundraiser were the real reasons why McGuinty graced us with his presence. That and some ribbon cutting and local media appearances to spread the good word that a new green energy boom will save Ontario's economy.

I'm not arguing against The Green Energy Act's ideas. I think renewable power generation is great. Wind turbines, bio-energy plants, solar farms... in Europe these have been commonplace for years. A country like Portugal generates 20 per cent of its power from renewable sources. And McGuinty claims this Green Act will create 50,000 jobs over three years. Again, it's hard to argue against jobs.

But, six years ago McGuinty promised to close coal fired power plants. From the porch of my place in the country south and west of London I can still see a plume of smoke rising into the air from Nanticoke. From Nanticoke it's almost possible to see wind turbines spinning near Port Burwell, the same kind of turbines the Premier believes will help create 50,000 jobs.

The American work crews who installed those wind turbines near Port Burwell certainly hope to get more “green” work out of the Ontario government. And the companies who sold the turbines to Ontario are probably rubbing their hands right now. There is a global economic slow-down, in case you haven't heard, and sales are hard to come by.

Then again, the Ontario Liberals may have a plan to design and build the turbines in Ontario, put them up with Ontario labourers, and service them with Ontario workers. That would create jobs, maybe even 50,000 jobs if the entire alternative energy sector were built from the ground up.

Those details aren't available yet, unfortunately. The Premier answered about eight questions from the media last week. And equally unfortunately, not one of the questions from the journalistic pros had anything to do with jobs. No one summoned the brainpower to question the premier's math:

In January alone Ontario lost 71,000 thousand jobs. After more than six months of heavy job losses and much hand wringing and spending by all governments across the globe, the best the majority McGuinty government could come up with was a green plan that will employ 50,000 people in the next three years. With my poor math skills, those 50,000 jobs won't even cover the losses incurred in January of 2009.

Protestors marched downtown when Prime Minister Harper swooped into London last fall. But when the Premier has a suit and tie luncheon with the business class outside the core, the protestors sit on their hands and wash their Che Guevara t-shirts, hoping for another chance to crack some Conservative nuts. What can the provincial government do, anyway?

They could do something other than nothing, for a start. One “major” announcement in how many months, Dalton? What does the Liberal Party have to show for its majority rule? Could Ontario maybe speed up it's own budget process, to let Ontarians know what our provincial reps have planned?

Apparently, those are questions a majority leader doesn't need to answer... because he hasn't, and I doubt he will.

Scurry back to the GTA, Dalton. Maybe give Eves a call and see how he's doing these days. Hopefully, in a couple years, you'll be joining him on the sidelines. Somehow I doubt either former leader will be worried about money.
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