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Different styles, rules keeping McGuinty out of the spotlight on listeria

Canadian Press Article online since September 10th 2008, 23:00
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TORONTO - Different leadership styles and levels of responsibility have allowed Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's government to skirt criticism about the deadly listeriosis outbreak, while former premier Mike Harris took much of the blame for Walkerton, another high-profile health crisis, political experts said.
Despite harsh words from opposition leaders, who said McGuinty was missing in action during the listeriosis outbreak that has claimed 14 lives in the province, political experts said there's little the provincial government could have done.
"The criticism is levelled primarily at the federal level because it's a federal responsibility," said Henry Jacek, a McMaster University political scientist.
Jacek said the outcry surrounding a deadly water contamination in Walkerton in 2000 and the criticism of Harris stemmed in part from the province's actions leading up to the scandal.
"Walkerton was a provincial responsibility, the water and the policy around ensuring that the water supplies are healthy rest with the provincial government," Jacek said of the 2000 crisis, which left seven people dead and thousands ill after the town's water supply became polluted with deadly E. coli bacteria.
"In Walkerton, ultimately, the change in water safety policy by the government of the day was criticized for allowing Walkerton to happen."
A public inquiry in the aftermath of Walkerton put part of the blame for that scandal on provincial cutbacks in water testing, as the Harris Tories cut some $200 million in funding between 1995 and 1997 and slashed staff by 750.
Those findings were widely seen as contributing to the defeat of the provincial Conservative government in 2003.
While the public "might have gone after (Harris) more, possibly," over listeria if he was still premier, the reaction will mostly depend on which level of government is really responsible, he said.
Graham White, a politics professor at the University of Toronto, had another explanation for the difference in public reaction.
"It's partly a style issue: Harris was in people's faces all the time and it really invited conflict," White said.
"In fact, that was part of his political success because he identified his enemies and really baited them, while it's the complete opposite of what McGuinty does."
Conservative Leader John Tory said Thursday the Ontario government should be doing more to deal with the listeriosis outbreak.
"This is vintage Dalton McGuinty, whether it's hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, whether it's hundreds of people that lost their lives to C. difficile or now a few people who've lost their lives - but far too many - for listeria," Tory said.
"It is an inexcusable adjudication of leadership."
Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton, who has already called for a review of the province's response to the listeriosis outbreak, said the government has been "missing in action on this issue" and took far too long to warn people of the risk after the bacteria was initially detected in June.
"Just with the explosion at the propane storage - the general theme is the McGuinty government is not doing a good job in terms of protecting the health and safety of Ontario residents," Hampton said.
McGuinty has said he'll follow the advice of provincial health officials on listeria, and on Thursday commended Prime Minister Steven Harper for agreeing to conduct a formal review on the issue to make sure the outbreak is not repeated.
"I just don't think that Ontarians, or Canadians for that matter, are overly concerned about who is responsible for this from a government level, I think they want us to find a way to work together on this, and that's what we're going to keep doing," McGuinty said.
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