Ontario's Premiers by rank

[Insidious Von]

I've been giving this some thought, Ontario has been saddled with some mediocre Premiers, so how do they rank? I use the number of flip flops and budget policy to score them. Also they have to have served for a complete four years. Here's my ranking:

1. Bob Rae
2. Bill Davis
3. Mike Harris
4. Dalton McGinty
5. David Peterson

 

[train]

Bob Rae and Drooling Dalton? Are you serious? One brought us Rae days and the other ruined the economic structure of Ontario for a generation.

 

[JohnLarue]

I've been giving this some thought, Ontario has been saddled with some mediocre Premiers, so how do they rank? I use the number of flip flops and budget policy to score them. Also they have to have served for a complete four years. Here's my ranking:

1. Bob Rae
2. Bill Davis
3. Mike Harris
4. Dalton McGinty
5. David Peterson

Dalton McGinty should go down as the worst premier in Ontario's History, although I suspect Granny Wynne will make an even bigger mess.
Bob Rae was a nice guy, who was woefully unprepared for the job. He also passed some labour legislation which is now proving to be very expensive.
Bob Rae never once balanced a budget & borrowing in his term grew exponentially.
Peterson lost to the NDP. it really does not get much worse than that

How you can include these three in your top five is mystifying

Mike Harris had the right plan and he cleaned up after Bob Rea, however he came across as mean-spirited

Bill Davis will probably be known as one of the best premiers, however he had the luxury of a strong economy & far less aggressive labor.

 

[ogibowt]

i have never voted Conservative, but in retrospect and reading history, and trying to be unbiased, i believe that bill davis and john robarts are 2 men that should be right up there...Robarts in particular brought Ontario into the 20th century so to speak....it was a shame that his private life was such that he eventually committed suicide

 

[Insidious Von]

John Robarts committed suicide! I did not know that, good God how bad could his private have been? I'm sure Robarts was a good Premiere but I'm only including those from my formative years and beyond.

David Peterson lived like Louis XIV and he taxed and spent with gay abandon. He squandered Ontario's large budget surplus. By the time of the 90 election Ontario's economy went into free fall and it his us hardest. He parceled the construction of the 407 to his friend, setting it up as a private utility. He also conspired with Mulroney to have the deeply flawed Meech Lake Accord ratified, it would have divided the nation making us satraps of the USA. For those reasons he's Ontario's worst Premiere.

Dalton McGuinty is a pathological liar and coward. His government will be remembered for it's unrelenting mediocrity. He tried to govern like McEnzie King, but the former PM actually had scruples.

 

[james t kirk]

John Robarts committed suicide! I did not know that, good God how bad could his private have been? I'm sure Robarts was a good Premiere but I'm only including those from my formative years and beyond.

.

How bad could it be?

Really bad.

Read this:

http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/john-robarts-died-30-years-ago-today

 

[red]

I've been giving this some thought, Ontario has been saddled with some mediocre Premiers, so how do they rank? I use the number of flip flops and budget policy to score them. Also they have to have served for a complete four years. Here's my ranking:

1. Bob Rae
2. Bill Davis
3. Mike Harris
4. Dalton McGinty
5. David Peterson

Davidd peterson and dalton mcguinty are two of the worst. Peterson is such a conceited pompous ass he is impossible to be in the same room.

Bob Rae is a wonderful guy- smart and able but humble too. He had some bad luck though he tried.

I like bill Davis but robarts was his superior. Robarts made a tremendous impact on the province

After robarts I would put frost and then mowat then bill Davis then Bob rae

 

[Insidious Von]

Robarts would certainly top the list, but I didn't know about him. By the time my family obtained Canadian Citizenship he was already out of office.

Bob Rae had an impossible job when he became Premiere, Peterson had pushed us into Greco style debt. Like Mike Harris he made some mistakes but he had to deal with the 90-93 recession which hit Ontario particularly hard. I remember working downtown at the time and walking through the underground concourse of the business district - almost half the shops were empty. Harris's mistakes were more severe; his cuts to health and education and his aborted deregulation of energy (without securing the proper investment first) hurt the province. But he was a man of his word, his MVA and amalgamation benefited Toronto in the long run.

And he's the only Premiere that I've ever met. I met him in a Vaughan pizza joint, a food he loves. I was surprised by how tall he was and more so by how affable and easygoing he was to speak with. He appeared guarded so I broke the ice by thanking him for lowering my property taxes. I understood quickly why he was an election winner, very charming almost folksy. I considered him tough, not mean spirited.

 

[omegaphallic]

1. Mike Harris
2. Kathlyn Wynne
3. Dalton
4. Peterson
5. The Great Betrayer, aka the Prince of Darkness aka, aka Traitor, aka Bob Rae.
6. Everybody else.

 

[Butler1000]

As I've aged a bit I think I've changed some of my thoughts on the men listed.

Rae was probably in a bit over his head and had to deal with a caucus with no experience in governance. A killer recession and unions. It mitigates his mistakes. I don't think he had bad intentions.

Peterson in the other hand is a political animal. He orchastrated the floor crossing of Belinda Stronach. He also has one of the foulest mouths in private. Definitely the C word is his favorite. There are no scruples to this man.

Harris is as stated above very nice and unassuming. I've seen him working in private with charities on how to fund raise with the best effectiveness. Especially in how to land permanent funds from big fish.

But Davis and Robarts were by far the best. Combination of infrastructure building and economic policy is what made the Big Blue Machine a part of the rise of Ontario.

 

[Frankfooter]

1. Mike Harris
2. Kathlyn Wynne
3. Dalton
4. Peterson
5. The Great Betrayer, aka the Prince of Darkness aka, aka Traitor, aka Bob Rae.
6. Everybody else.

Mike Harris #1?

The man that gave us the amalgamated city against the vote of the people of Toronto?

 

[K Douglas]

In my lifetime

1. Mike Harris (by a mile). He had to clean up a huge mess left by Rae and his band of incompetents.
2. Bill Davis
3. David Peterson
4. Dalton McGuinty
5. Bob Rae

Incomplete rankings for Wynne, Eves, Miller due to lack of track record. I suspect that the way she is going Wynne will fall below McGuinty on the scale. Rae is a nice guy but he was just in over his head and didn't have any support. The most competent of the NDP MP's at that time were probably Lankin, Kormos and Hampton.