Dalton McGuinty was at his most fatherly and Premier Dad-like Friday night as he said thank you to Ontarians and members of the provincial Liberal Party. Although he is retiring under a huge cloud of mismanagement and political gaffes, the Premier was witty and in apparent good spirits. Tomorrow (Saturday) the leadership contest is expected to be fought out between former cabinet minister Sandra Pupatello and Kathleen Wynne, former cabinet minister and the MPP for Don Valley West. But it was Mr. McGuinty’s night. “It has been my joy and honour to serve as your premier,” he told delegates gathered at the Mattamy Athletics Centre in Toronto (the former Maple Leaf Gardens). It is the place where he won the leadership of the party back in 1996. He recalled his wife’s reaction to his victory. “It was here, 16 years ago, when they announced the results, that Terri grabbed me, leaned over and gently whispered in my ear: ‘You said you weren’t going to win.'” “Nobody was more terrified than me when I won,” he said. CBC video of speech
