Gerald Butts

We completely changed the policy backbone of the Ontario Liberal Party.

The timing turned out to be right.

We were in the third term of a Conservative government.

People were looking for change.

But Dalton came out of the 1999 campaign having lost, not dissimilarly to the way that Polyev lost in this election.

But he came out of it with the determination that he wasn't just going to be the anti-Harris, Mike Harris at that time guy.

He was going to have his own platform for governing.

So he brought a bunch of us in.

We were all in our late 20s, early 30s.

And he said, have at it.

These are the things I want to do.

I want the best ideas from politicians.

public education around the world.

I want the best ideas from public health care.

I want the best ideas from a subnational jurisdiction on economic development.

And importantly, I want the best environment ideas.

And that's where everything from the class size cap, the test score targets, the wait times reductions, the green belt that people still enjoy.

It had some touch and go moments there a couple of years ago, but still enjoy in the GTA.

And of course, most importantly,

You have a bunch of kids who didn't get asthma because we don't have coal plants in Ontario anymore.