Wynne Make Historical Jab at Harper

Duguid comments are in the context of a federal election campaign and an ongoing war of words between Harper and Premier Kathleen Wynne, still fuming over the fact that Harper refused to let the federal government administer the Liberals’ proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.

Premier Kathleen Wynne is expected to provide more details today about Ontario’s new pension plan. “That’s not the kind of leadership that we need”. “In order to do that, in the most efficient way possible, it would terrific to have a federal partner on all of those files”.

“There was lots of campaigning during our election from all sides of the political spectrum and at the federal level”, she said.

“I’ve said that if Stephen Harper had been the Prime Minister instead of Sir John A. Macdonald and B.C. had said ‘well we need a railway, ‘ he would have said ‘well, you know, we’re not going to help you with that, build it yourself, ‘” Wynne said.

“This is not personal”, said Wynne.

“There is not an economist right now that I have seen in the country that is not predicting growth for Ontario”, Duguid said, adding that the province now has the lowest unemployment rate since 2008 when the country was thrown into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Harper shot back by saying when he first became prime minister he was advised his best relations would be with premiers who were doing a good job in their own provinces.

Harper and Wynne have recently traded barbs over issues including the length of the federal election campaign and the province’s new pension plan, further straining an already tense relationship as Harper’s Conservatives look to make headway in vote-rich Ontario.