"you get what you pay for"

Further to this post which talked about the need for an increase in MPP salaries, Ian Urquhart has a column which gets into some further details on the matter.  But buried at the end is something I hadn't heard before:

Conservative Leader John Tory has been pressing the government to address this concern with a better compensation package for MPPs, and there are cabinet ministers who privately agree with him.

But as long as the New Democrats stand opposed, the Liberals are not going to take the risk of implementing a significant pay hike in an election year (2007).

Post-election perhaps, but not even then if, as seems increasingly likely, the election results in a minority with the NDP holding the balance of power. [emphasis added]

A minority government in Ontario?  Really?  First I've heard of the possibility, but maybe I haven't been looking in the right places.  Can anyone point to other speculation of this sort?

Comments

[James Bow]

It's theoretically possible, I suppose. I wouldn't predict it at this point, however. I do predict that McGuinty will lose seats, but I don't see him losing his majority. He's broken a few promises, but has generally led this province competently (in my opinion and, in my opinion, in the opinion of most of the electorate). He's not very exciting. He's oatmeal. It's hard to vote for oatmeal, but on the other hand, it's hard to vote against.

On the other side of the aisle, John Tory has proven to be a good leader for the provincial Tories, and stand a good chance of winning it outright in 2011 if they stay the course. I don't think the province is willing to bring them back just yet, however. So, McGuinty loses seats, but not (I think) his majority.

Of course, if McGuinty bleeds a bit more than I expect, then a minority starts to come into play.

[DCardno]

You can just look back at the reaction in BC a year ago: with both party leaders agreeing to the pay hike package and both caucuses whipped, it still failed when the Dippers (retroactively) withdrew their agreement to Bill 17 after public protest. The government then repealed Bill 17 with Bill 19, placing the blame squarely on Carole James, the Leader of the Opposition. Part of the public reaction was no doubt the speedy passage of Bill 17 - it went from first reading to third reading in one day - but part is just a public distate (or more accurately; heated, vitriolic, vehement hatred) for legislators to be setting their own pay scales.