For Wynne, the hard part is about to begin

Premier must usher in a new era of accountability

Having banished the ghost of Dalton McGuinty with her stunning election victory, Premier Kathleen Wynne has a new cabinet that reflects her personality and priorities. Wynne won a historic victory two weeks ago, but it will count for little if she doesn’t deliver on her promises — and she has four years to do it, no ifs and buts.

One reason she won the election was that Ontarians warmed up to her in a way they haven’t done for other leaders in decades, and the critical factor was that they found her believable. That’s why a gas-plant scandal that would have felled many leaders didn’t stick to her. When Wynne said she was sorry for what happened, and cynics and the opposition snickered, most Ontarians believed she meant it. Her believability is perhaps her strongest asset. That’s why she must balance the budget in 2017-18 as she promised, and fix the economy. Wynne has established a certain bond with voters who defied conventional wisdom to give her a majority. That bond is based on trust, and if she loses it by not keeping her word, it won’t be long before she becomes a political casualty.

One word that should be planted in Wynne’s head over the next four years is accountability. Wynne must understand that her victory was not a vote for government mismanagement and scandal. It does not signal an endorsement of malfeasance or the sense of entitlement that bedevilled the previous Liberal government. Ontarians voted for her because they didn’t think she was personally responsible the mis-

Wynne should make clear that the days of entitlement are over.

management that bred the scandals. Now that Wynne is in charge, she’d be personally responsible for any new misdeeds, and she must usher in a new era of probity and accountability.

One of the problems that bedevilled the previous government was the lack of oversight and accountability at Crown agencies, where senior executives paid themselves million-dollar salaries and engaged in outrageous behaviour. Wynne should make clear that the days of entitlement are over. And she should make equally clear to her ministers — if she hasn’t already done so — that they would be held accountable for things that go wrong in their departments. If ministers don’t know what’s going on in their departments, they have no business running them.

In many ways the problem with the McGuinty government was not that it had no good policies or programs. In fact it had some terrific plans, but often failed badly in the execution. Wynne made many promises and is now about to embark on a spending spree involving billions of dollars and new programs on everything from pensions to transit, health care and education. A lot of money will flow in different directions and execution will be critical to prevent any foul-ups.

Wynne will have to show some steel when the time comes for union negotiations and the inevitable demand for wage increases. The province is in bad shape and most workers in the private sector are not getting any wage increases. They are lucky to have jobs.

The public sector should be no different. Public servants should make the same sacrifices other Ontarians are making, and if they refuse, Wynne should stand firm and offer no money. As for the gas-plant controversy, Wynne should just let the police investigation take its course, and the chips will fall where they may.

Wynne won a famous victory June 12, but the next four years will show us her mettle.