If the most recent polling this past weekend by Nanos Research is on the money, Ontario is heading for a minority government. The numbers are so close; however, that it could be a minority led by Mr. McGuinty or Mr. Hudak, but only with the blessing of Andrea Horwath.

All of the leaders have ruled a coalition out of the question in the final days of this campaign, but no one has said anything about the kind of accord that then NDP leader Bob Rae signed with former Liberal leader David Peterson to make Peterson premier over then Tory leader Frank Miller, who actually won a slim minority.

The unique accord was not technically a coalition, in the sense that cabinet positions were shared between Liberals and New Democrats, but rather, it was a signed document that committed the Liberals to include key New Democrat policy within a determined time frame (two years), in return for stable support without threat of non-confidence. The penalty for Peterson if he did not follow through was the fall of his government.

I’m not surprised that any of the leaders (especially Dalton McGuinty) are publicly ruling out a coalition, but as history has demonstrated, sometimes the price of power is doing a deal with the devil.

David Peterson is Dalton McGuinty’s political mentor, so if the Liberal Leader has to reconsider his position in order to hold onto power, at least he has someone who’s been there and done that enough to coach him through.

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For more of 680News political affairs specialist’s views on politics and other other issues, visit www.johnstall.com.