Report Cards Must Be Signed On October 10th

"F" can be used to describe the performance of the McGinty liberals but also the frustration they have caused to those voters who got conned by the promise of change.

The MPP report card

By Christina Blizzard

School got out early this week, as Premier Dalton McGuinty and his Liberals abruptly skipped out of the Legislature. It's not too late to hand out report cards, though.

DALTON McGUINTY

PREMIER: C

Personally, he's a lovely guy. Politically you get the feeling he's being pulled and pushed every which way by the people around him. It would be nice to see him flex his own political muscle once in a while, rather than responding in a knee-jerk fashion to those around him.

JOHN TORY

PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE LEADER : B-minus

He's improved mightily from his earlier performances and isn't nearly as wordy as he was. But he needs more fire in his belly, more passion. If he wants to become premier, he needs to tell us in words of less than five syllables why he wants the job. Give us vision.

HOWARD HAMPTON

NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER : B-plus

You have to hand it to him, he's the only leader to see the number of seats go up. Of course, when your caucus can meet in a phone booth, there is only one way to go. New Democratic fortunes seem to be on the upswing. Hampton's under the gun this election, though. If the number of NDP seats doesn't go up, watch for the long knives.

GREG SORBARA

FINANCE MINISTER : C-plus

His budget was a dud. You sense the fire has gone out of him. A nice chappy, well liked around here, Sorbara is generally seen as the power behind the McGuinty throne.

GEORGE SMITHERMAN

HEALTH MINISTER : C-minus

He's gone from pitbull to health minister and now back to pitbull. Give him his dues. Health is usually the graveyard for politicians, yet he's managed to hang in and survive an entire mandate in the portfolio. He's a bit over the top at times, but you sense behind that pitbull exterior is just a little lost poodle looking for attention. He weds this summer. Who knows? Marriage may mellow him.

JIM WATSON

HEALTH PROMOTION

MINISTER : B

He was handed a no-nothing ministry that didn't exist before. He's turned it into a finely tuned photo-op machine. Okay, his smoke-free legislation is a pain in the, er, butt -- but he's serious about getting us couch potatoes fit.

LAUREL BROTEN

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER:

D-minus

What was she thinking when she stood in front of a sign telling voters to eff off? Look, Flick off was a cute campaign, but a cabinet minister should avoid at all costs being photographed in front of an apparent profanity. Or is she telling us what she really thinks of us?

HARINDER TAKHAR

SMALL BUSINESS MINISTER: F

Could McGuinty have found a more meaningless ministry for Takhar? The guy shouldn't be in cabinet. He should have quit after the Integrity Commissioner found he had breached the Integrity Act.

KATHLEEN WYNNE

EDUCATION MINISTER : B-

Fairly good, but you'd like to see something more substantive from her on school safety. It's all very well to talk about dealing with "cyberbullying." What about the guns? We've had promises, promises, about cameras, but it seems politicians forget -- until a tragedy happens.

DAVID RAMSAY

NATURAL RESOURCES

MINISTER: A-minus:

His ministry is trees, birds and wild animals. His major responsibility, though, is aboriginal affairs. And he's done a fairly good job. The native stand-off in Caledonia has been a tough issue for him. On the one hand, it's a tricky situation that could ignite any minute. On the other, his political masters haven't helped matters with their lack of leadership. You sense he's caught in the middle.

DWIGHT DUNCAN

ENERGY MINISTER : D

Okay make it D-plus. The lights are on, but is anyone home? Yes, he's busily bringing on new, green power. For that he gets a passing grade. But it's his performance on coal-fired plants, and his refusal to install scrubbers on existing plants, that brings down his mark. Instead of stubbornly clinging to a campaign promise to close coal plants -- they now admit they can't do it until 2014 -- Duncan should clean up the emissions we now have.

MARY ANNE CHAMBERS

CHILDREN'S MINISTER: B

After a rocky start, Chambers has settled down and become a steady performer.

On the Conservative side of the ledger, John Tory's bench strength is in his women.

CHRISTINE ELLIOTT

(WHITBY-AJAX): B

An accomplished lawyer and mother of triplets, Elliott is considered quietly capable. Her weakness is that she isn't shrill enough in Question Period. (Okay, in real life, being soft-spoken is considered desirable. In politics you need to be loud.) If the Tories form the next government, Elliott, the wife of federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, is considered a shoo-in as Attorney General. Talk about power couple.

JOYCE SAVOLINE

(BURLINGTON): N/A

Too new to rate, but as a former regional chair, she is promising.

LISA MACLEOD

(NEPEAN-CARLETON): C

Her loudness makes up for Elliott's shyness.

BOB RUNCIMAN

(LEEDS-GRENVILLE): B-plus

This veteran war horse is steady as a rock in the Legislature, and he's running a marathon in support of diabetes research this summer. What's not to like?

TIM HUDAK

(ERIE-LINCOLN): C

Young, ambitious and talented, his performances tend to be a little too theatrical and over-rehearsed.

And for the NDP:

CHERI DiNOVO

(PARKDALE-HIGH PARK):

A-minus

A rookie dynamo who has spearheaded some successful campaigns -- notably the one for a $10 an hour minimum wage.

MICHAEL PRUE

(Beaches-East York): B-minus

Nice guy. Needs more fire.

PAUL FERREIRA

(YORK SOUTH-WESTON): N/A

Too new to rate. Another ambitious NDP rookie. Not as feisty as DiNovo, but learning the ropes fast.

PETER KORMOS

(NIAGARA CENTRE): A-

What would the Legislature be without the NDP's maverick manure disturber?

GILLES BISSON

(TIMMINS-JAMES BAY): B -

Effective, passionate, hard-working.

SPEAKER MIKE BROWN (ALGOMA MANITOULIN): B

Nice guy who's come a long way in four years. And just when he finally gets the House under control, it rises.

christina.blizzard@sunmedia.ca