Dalton Mcguinty ― Making a Difference

Former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty shares the story of his life in politics and the leadership lessons he has learned.

Dalton McGuinty was premier of Ontario for ten years, from 2003 to 2013. When he took office, Ontario was wounded from fifteen years of cutbacks and divisive politics. Under his leadership, the province navigated a deep recession, a challenging shift away from a manufacturing-based economy, and the turmoil of major rebuilding of schools, hospitals, and transportation and energy infrastructure.

McGuinty tells the story of why he started in politics, and recounts his first crushing defeat and the victories that followed, leading up to his campaign for leadership of the Liberal Party. The reader gets a frank, behind-the-scenes look at McGuinty's years in power, with insight into major issues like Sharia law, the eHealth program, full-day kindergarten, and the two cancelled Ontario Hydro gas plants.

Perpetually underestimated by both his opponents and the media, Dalton McGuinty prevailed through a mix of sheer determination and political shrewdness, becoming the longest-serving Liberal leader in Ontario in over a century. Here he shares the valuable lessons he has learned along the way about leadership and the limitations and expectations for political leaders in the twenty-first century.

Dalton McGuinty, the twenty-fourth premier of Ontario, served from 2003 to 2013 — the first Liberal to serve three successive terms as premier of the province in nearly a century. In 2013, McGuinty was named a senior fellow at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He is now a senior advisor with PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada, and the special advisor to the president of Desire2Learn, an Ontario education technology company. He currently lives in Ottawa.