Ontario Since 1985

Paul G. Thomas is a professor of political science at the University of
Manitoba and the co-author of Canadian Public Administration:
Problematical Perspectives.

In this sequel to Ontario 1610–1985 (1996), Randall White documents
the more turbulent politics and economics that have characterized the
province since the 42-year dynasty of the Progressive Conservatives that
came to an end on June 26, 1985. Exactly a decade later, the Progressive
Conservatives under the leadership of Mike Harris were back in office,
now armed with radical values of the so-called Common Sense Revolution;
no longer was their motto “bland works.” During the intervening
decade, both the Liberals under David Peterson (1987–90) and the New
Democratic Party under Bob Rae (1990–95) held power. According to the
author, the decade also witnessed the emergence of a less economically
secure and more self-interested provincial political culture.

Although White makes no claim to have written the definitive history of
the period, his text is rich in detail and makes extensive use of the
available social science literature and government documents. Most of
the book consists of a creative synthesis, but there is also some
interesting original analysis of election outcomes and expenditure
patterns. How many Ontarians would know, for example, that health
spending has gone from 26 percent of the provincial budget in 1975–76
to 33 percent in 1998–99. The analysis of the defeat of the one-term
Liberal government, the Rae government’s disastrous 1991 budget and
notorious Social Contract negotiations with public-sector unions, and
the eventual return of the Progressive Conservatives is excellent. A
preliminary assessment of the Harris government’s Common Sense
Revolution is provided.

Overall, White is balanced in his assessments, while still offering
some intriguing interpretations to enliven the analysis. For example, he
suggests that the early expansionary moves of the Rae government were
necessary to set the context for the Harris victory and the draconian
budgetary cutbacks of the revolution. Future, more extensive research
will confirm or refute such interpretations; for its part, Ontario Since
1985 offers an informative and engaging analysis of a stormy period in
Ontario’s history.