TORONTO - You know the times are tough for a Liberal leader when traditionally supportive publications like the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star start to make pointed jabs and tongue-in-cheek remarks. It could certainly be asked where these 'respectable' media publications have been for the past eight years - after all, it's not like Dalton McGuinty's record has been a secret. No, much of the mainstream media in Ontario has essentially made a choice to take it easy on the Liberal government for several years now. The reasons for this are manifold - perhaps it can be chalked up to an underlying ideological congruency, perhaps it is more of a mutual enmity towards the Conservative alternative. It is clear, however, that with McGuinty's clear majority elected in 2007 these media institutions likely thought they would be backing the winning horse if they stayed in his camp through 2011.

Boy, how quickly things can change in politics!

It has been a rough couple of years for McGuinty - 2010 in particular might be looked upon as a game-changer should Tim Hudak and the Progressive Conservatives win the upcoming election. The HST, introduced last year (on Canada Day, no less) was extremely unpopular with Ontarians, and this latent anger poses a significant threat to the Liberals' prospects. When coupled with McGuinty's perceived aloofness during the implementation process, and current anger of out of control energy prices it will certainly be a difficult campaign. After all, McGuinty's record of achievements is so controversial that only the most naive campaign strategists could suggest its viability as a recruitment tool. Rather, McGuinty should likely be making new, concrete, achievable pledges to voters instead of reminding them what he has not accomplished.

Accompanied by a slide-show presentation, Mr. McGuinty is trying to give some attention to his real accomplishments - which he feels have been ignored. Any journalist with a remaining shred of integrity should not let this issue rest. Spending in our province has climbed from approximately $70-billion in 2003 to over $120-billion today - if one cannot fill a short slideshow after raising annual spending by $50-billion, calamity would ensure. Heck, for half of that cost I could fill TWO slideshows of accomplishments - maybe even three!

One of the peculiarities of Canadian politics is that the prevailing fortunes of the federal parties often reflect upon the provincial parties as well -and vice versa. With the federal Liberals drifting listless, with no core values or clear policy objectives, their provincial counterparts should be wary of taking such a passive approach. Even if Ontario's provincial Liberals had a successful four years in office (which is hardly the case) it would be dangerous to sit on their laurels as they are doing. Of course, in reality the past seven years have been disastrous for Ontario.

From the Green Energy Act to eHealth, billions have been wasted with nothing to show for it. Ignoring this, and claiming success rings false with most Ontarians. As mentioned above, even the staunchest media allies of the Liberal party are starting to smell blood in the water. If these years have been a success, Ontario simply cannot afford another four years of Dalton McGuinty.