Farlinger’s hand guided Harris revolution

His public profile may have been low, but Bill Farlinger had a huge impact on the political and economic life of Ontario for more than a decade. It is not too much of a stretch to say that, without Farlinger, the Mike Harris phenomenon — also known as the Common Sense Revolution — might not have happened.

“ I would never have been premier were it not for Bill Farlinger,” eulogized Harris at Farlinger’s funeral last week. Farlinger died a week ago today at the age of 75 after a massive stroke.

During the Harris years, Farlinger was chair of Ontario Hydro and, subsequently, of its successor company, Ontario Power Generation ( OPG). But Farlinger was also a sort of political godfather to Harris, whom he helped connect to the Toronto business establishment. The two men came from much different backgrounds; Harris a former teacher and golf and ski instructor from North Bay, Farlinger a pillar of the establishment as chair and CEO of the giant accounting firm Ernst and Young. But they shared two passions, golfing and fishing. In 1987, Bill King, Farlinger’s nephew and an aide to Harris, put the two men together in a boat to go fishing on Lake Ontario. “ I can’t remember if Bill ( Farlinger) caught a salmon that day, but I hit the jackpot,” recalled Harris in his eulogy.

Farlinger became a key fundraiser for Harris in his successful 1990 campaign for the leadership of the provincial Conservatives.

But, more importantly, he arranged literally hundreds of lunches and dinners for Harris with Bay Streeters to show them that this new Conservative leader was not some rube from the sticks. With Bay Street’s support, Harris won the 1995 provincial election on a tax- cutting, welfare- bashing platform called the Common Sense Revolution.

Farlinger, by then retired from Ernst and Young, was named co- chair of the transition team that prepared the ground for the new government.

And, in the fall of 1995, Harris appointed Farlinger chair of government- owned Ontario Hydro. Since Farlinger had previously authored a report that recommended the partial sale of Hydro, it was widely assumed at the time that his mandate was to pave the way for privatization. But that did not happen.

Instead, Farlinger presided over the breakup of Hydro into two companies: OPG, to run the generating plants and Hydro One, to manage the transmission lines. He became chair of OPG. On his watch, bits and pieces of OPG were privatized, including some northern hydroelectric facilities. And the Bruce nuclear plant was leased to the private sector, a move that was generally applauded. ( The current Liberal government has perpetuated and expanded the lease.)

Far more controversial, however, was Farlinger’s 1997 decision to fire senior management at Hydro, which he said had been taken over by “ some sort of special nuclear cult.”

Farlinger also shut down seven nuclear reactors and brought in a team of American experts to oversee the retrofit of them. The retrofit ran way behind deadline and above budget. A subsequent investigation found a new type of culture at OPG: “( One) which does not take responsibility and is not accountable.” When the Liberals took office in 2003, Farlinger knew his time at OPG was up. He resigned.

There was, of course, much more to Farlinger than this narrow portrait suggests. He was a past president of the Royal Canadian Golf Association, a member of the University of Toronto’s sports hall of fame ( for his prowess in track and field), a big fundraiser for U of T, a member of the Order of Canada, and a father and grandfather. But it is the legacy from his years with Harris and Hydro that will endure in the public eye. Ian Urquhart’s provincial affairs column appears Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. iurquha@thestar.ca.