Fueling The Electrion Train V

McGuinty plays the race card
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN

Good grief, the premier of Ontario can be a dork.

Last week, Dalton McGuinty was under fire by the opposition parties over allegations the Liberals rushed out $20 million in a year-end spending spree to various multicultural groups, some with apparent ties to the Liberal party.

While rejecting opposition charges of any political favouritism, McGuinty admitted to problems with the application process, or rather the lack of one.

"In terms of how we solicit applications, I think we can do a better job there," he acknowledged.

On Friday, the Liberals conceded as much by posting a new application form online for groups applying in the future.

A day earlier, amid opposition charges McGuinty and Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle were ducking the issue, the Liberals used their majority to block an opposition motion to have the auditor-general investigate the grants process.

McGuinty has been defending the grants process with some over-the-top rhetoric. An example?: "We're trying to do something here which is largely without precedent in the annals of human history. That sounds like rhetoric, but it's not."

Right. Still, all of this would have amounted to little had McGuinty not accused the opposition of pursuing the issue out of racism on Friday.

His argument? The opposition hadn't asked any questions about up to $50 million in grants that were awarded through a similar process to establishment institutions like the Royal Ontario Museum and The National Ballet of Canada.

Uh, why should they premier? Did you screw them up, too?

Finally, McGuinty went off on a bizarre rant that ended here: "So, you know, let's remember that when it comes to the Conservatives, in the last campaign, in their platform, which is a very political document, which is designed to appeal specifically to their target audience, they put the subject of immigration under crime. We see immigration and diversity differently here in the province of Ontario. We embrace it ..."

Okay. Let's put aside that the Tories' immigration policy in the 2003 election was actually included in a section of their platform called "A Passport to Ontario," that it was four years ago, that they have a new leader, that the NDP have been pursuing this issue as vigorously as the Conservatives and that they're both complaining not about multiculturalism but the grant process.

As NDP MPP Andrea Horwath put it: "It's simply not acceptable that work is being done at the end of the year with little cash handouts if you happen to know the minister or a high-ranking Liberal. That's totally unacceptable. The bottom line is these grants need to be transparent. There needs to be criteria ... to have an open process, where all communities are able to apply."

Indeed. And so, with respect, premier: Flick off.