{"id":225496,"date":"2026-06-18T10:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?p=225496"},"modified":"2026-06-18T10:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:12:49","slug":"does-ernie-eves-have-any-regrets-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/does-ernie-eves-have-any-regrets-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Ernie Eves have any regrets? | Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>BY STEVE PAIKEN <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>(This commentary first appeared on TVO Today on June 17, 2026. It has been republished on Doppler with the author&#8217;s permission)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The thing about turning 80, as former Ontario premier Ernie Eves is doing today, is that it gives one an opportunity to look back. In this case, that means a political career that started with a six-vote victory in 1981 and ended in the premier\u2019s office two decades later, managing some unprecedented catastrophes.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 14px;\"><strong><broadstreet-zone zone-id=\"45658\" keywords=\"\" soft-keywords=\"true\" zone-alias=\"\"><\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The stuff that&nbsp;happened in between is what I wanted Ontario\u2019s 23rd premier to think about during a wide-ranging, hour-long conversation we had last week.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eves\u2019s story is unique in Ontario political history. Born into a working-class family in Windsor, he became a lawyer in Parry Sound and then earned the nickname \u201cLandslide Ernie\u201d for his razor-thin victory in 1981. He spent ten years in opposition before becoming Premier Mike Harris\u2019s right-hand man as finance minister during the 1995 Common Sense Revolution years, massively slashing both taxes and spending. He quit politics in 2001, assuming that was it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Harris\u2019s retirement from politics in 2002 spurred&nbsp;a groundswell of support from Eves\u2019s fellow Tories. They wanted him back in the ring. So, he left Bay Street, returned to public life, and succeeded Harris as premier in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the roof fell in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Premier Files: Ernie Eves | The Premier Files\" width=\"1230\" height=\"692\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0f2T7Zb7OGI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A series of bizarre catastrophes befell Ontario, including the SARS epidemic which killed 44 people, mostly in the Greater Toronto Area; an electricity blackout that hit the entire northeastern seaboard, massively destabilizing the province\u2019s electricity grid; and a mad cow disease outbreak that devastated Ontario\u2019s agricultural sector, resulting in the province\u2019s beef exports being rejected by 40 countries \u2014 including the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Eves called an election 18 months into his tenure, in October 2003, he was defeated by Dalton McGuinty\u2019s Liberals and resigned from politics permanently the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow long does it take, after leaving office, before a former premier stops replaying all of the events and decisions he made, wishing he had some do-overs?\u201d I asked Eves, who spoke to me over Zoom from his home in Caledon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHonestly, I haven\u2019t thought that about many things,\u201d he says. \u201cI&#8217;ve always operated on fairly simple theory of just trying to do what I thought was the right thing, and then you just have to let the chips fall where they may. So, I can honestly say that I don&#8217;t think I regretted too many things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/files.tvo.org\/files\/s3fs-public\/media-library\/image0000001_0.jpg?VersionId=WYHfE9u0UFBZO6o120fwOMs31hfFVs2u?fid=33872\" alt=\"two men sit at a desk\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ernie Eves signs in as a new MPP in 1981, as the clerk of the legislature, Roderick Lewis, looks on. (Courtesy Ernie Eves)<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But Eves confesses to second-guessing one of his most important decisions: namely, when to call an election. He was sworn in as premier on April 15, 2002, and seemed to breathe new life into a Progressive Conservative government that was deeply unpopular after seven exhausting years of revolutionary change. \u201cI&#8217;m not saying this in a detrimental way, in any way, shape, or form, to Mike Harris,\u201d Eves insists. \u201cI was part of that government and proud of it. But the public was tired of the Harris government, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many urged Eves to call a snap election, but he didn\u2019t, fearing he\u2019d be seen as too opportunistic, and wary that some polls showed the Tories would lose. He waited until September 2003. Perhaps he could have waited longer. \u201cShould have I waited out the five-year term before I called the election?\u201d he asks rhetorically. \u201cWe could have gone another year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eves soon realized his caucus was deeply divided between those who wanted the revolution to continue, and others who thought the public needed a break from all the drama and wanted a more pragmatic, centrist approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/files.tvo.org\/files\/s3fs-public\/media-library\/5c13a4c6-2775-4b69-bf76-e70f9b85aa81.jpg?VersionId=UQXmU_BsiRkrOgHxrJdKkYec6nCVCr0M?fid=33873\" alt=\"two men in suits smile at the camera\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former Ontario premiers (and golfing buddies) Ernie Eves and Bob Rae, in 2022. (Steve Paikin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt just wasn\u2019t a very pleasant time,\u201d says Eves, who admits he had dustups with some of his cabinet and adviser colleagues, some of whom stopped speaking to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another regret? He\u2019s not sure it was the best option to sell Highway 407. At the time, the potential revenues from the tolls hadn\u2019t yet skyrocketed and the maintenance costs seemed prohibitive. He wonders if a shared leasing arrangement would have been better than an outright sale, as the highway now makes a fortune for its owners (a Spanish infrastructure company and the Canada Pension Plan).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But on some files, he feels he\u2019s been vindicated by history. There was the May 2003 budget, presented at a Magna car parts plant in Brampton rather than in the Ontario Legislature. At the time, the decision was excoriated by critics as a breach of tradition and an attempt to prevent opposition members from doing their job. But today, prime ministers and premiers routinely travel around, announcing major aspects of their budgets outside of parliament. \u201cWhat we did was minuscule compared to that!\u201d he says, getting increasingly agitated. \u201cAnd yet, the media all went bullshit. Where\u2019s the media now? It&#8217;s ridiculous. It doesn&#8217;t make any friggin&#8217; difference where it&#8217;s read.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Compounding Eves\u2019s troubles was the fact that the Speaker, PC MPP Gary Carr, ruled the government was \u201cin contempt of the legislature\u201d for presenting the budget at Magna. That gave the story added life, and the premier more headaches. \u201cIt never ever occurred to me that a backup Junior B goaltender would be the guy who determined that what I was doing was unconstitutional,\u201d Eves says, referring to Carr\u2019s days as a budding hockey star. \u201cI\u2019m prepared to put my legal qualifications up against his any day of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/files.tvo.org\/files\/s3fs-public\/media-library\/32157434-78f1-461a-8f2e-1a6ea6d68bf1.jpg?VersionId=rFnqPFtnVNlXQDitXPuBW2J0LiQlGRf5?fid=33874\" alt=\"three men in suits share a laugh\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ernie Eves shares a laugh with former premier Mike Harris (Right), and Neil Davis, the son of former premier Bill Davis in June 2024. (Steve Paikin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I found it amusing that, more than two decades later, Eves can still get so hot under the collar about this. \u201cIt really does test my patience sometimes,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having said that, he does have fond memories of accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m most proud of the improvements we made to special education in the province of Ontario,\u201d he says, no doubt influenced by his own circumstances (his son Justin had learning disabilities). \u201cAnd when I became minister of finance, I doubled and then ended up tripling special education funding. I also lowered taxes 222 times, and I don&#8217;t think anybody else can say that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These days, Eves serves on a handful of boards \u2014 a couple of mining companies, an investment capital company, a winery, and an airline. He takes an enormous amount of pleasure in having created the Justin Eves Foundation (named after his son, who was killed in a car accident while Eves was finance minister). The foundation\u2019s assets have since been turned over to the University of Guelph and Guelph-Humber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe helped about 1,000 kids get a post-secondary education while it was running,\u201d Eves says. \u201cAnd the good news is, there will be 10 permanent scholarships in perpetuity in Justin\u2019s name. You know, there&#8217;s a thing on his tombstone that says, \u2018He looked for the best in others and gave the best of himself.\u2019 And I think that&#8217;s really what it&#8217;s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eves plans to celebrate his birthday this Saturday, with roughly 30 family and friends coming over to the home he shares with his life partner of 27 years, Isabel Bassett, the former chair and CEO of TVO. \u201cWe all don\u2019t get enough opportunities to get together, so it\u2019s great when we do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eves is also a doting grandfather to his daughter Natalie\u2019s two kids. Grandson Michael, who will study architectural engineering at the University of Waterloo, is a \u201cgreat skater with great hockey sense,\u201d who is about to play in the Ontario Junior Hockey League. Granddaughter Henley, \u201cwho\u2019s tired of hearing how great Michael is,\u201d plays volleyball, basketball, hockey, runs track, and gets extraordinarily high marks to boot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re wonderful, wonderful kids,\u201d Eves says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eves himself is now feeling the effects of a lifetime of playing sports. His knees are barking from high school football, hockey, and track. He got his right knee replaced in January; the left one will be done in October. That has prevented him from playing the game he loves best, golf, which was also to blame for two torn rotator cuffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we finish up our Zoom, Eves can\u2019t help but comment on what he dislikes about politics today. \u201cI get frustrated as hell watching what&#8217;s going on in the world,\u201d he admits. \u201cWhy can&#8217;t people just try to do the right thing and improve the lives of other people?\u201d He remembers a better time when he first got elected, when government and opposition MPPs would socialize together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019d sit down at least once a week over lunch and try to hammer out how we can improve this piece of legislation or that,\u201d he recalls. \u201cNow, it\u2019s just so partisan. It\u2019s not what the people want. Especially south of the border, where they\u2019ve lost respect for democratic institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It feels as if the former MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka would like to see another revolution of sorts \u2014 this one focused on increasing civility and mutual respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/TheAgenda_StevePaikin.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-225497\" style=\"width:280px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/gO6E7l4y-TheAgenda_StevePaikin-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/TheAgenda_StevePaikin-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/TheAgenda_StevePaikin-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/TheAgenda_StevePaikin-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/TheAgenda_StevePaikin-432x432.jpg 432w, https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/TheAgenda_StevePaikin-750x750.jpg 750w, https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/TheAgenda_StevePaikin-630x630.jpg 630w, https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2026\/06\/TheAgenda_StevePaikin.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Steve Paikin has been producing fact-based, public-interest journalism for nearly four decades. He&#8217;s the host of TVO Today Live and the&nbsp;<em>Paikin Podcast<\/em>, and the co-host of the&nbsp;<em>#onpoli<\/em>&nbsp;podcast. He is also a columnist for TVO.org and the&nbsp;<em>Toronto Star<\/em>, and has published ten books.&nbsp;Steve was invested as an officer of the&nbsp;<em>Order of Canada<\/em>&nbsp;by Governor General David Johnston, and a member of the&nbsp;<em>Order of Ontario<\/em>&nbsp;by Lieutenant Governor David Onley, both in 2013. In 2025, Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont presented him with a&nbsp;<em>King Charles III Coronation Medal<\/em>. In 2012, Victoria Tennant presented him with a&nbsp;<em>Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal<\/em>. In 2025, the Public Policy Forum gave him the lifetime achievement award for excellence in journalism. Steve tends to fall in love with hard-luck sports teams. He loves the Toronto Maple Leafs despite no Stanley Cups since 1967. He adores his hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats despite no Grey Cups since 1999. His patience with the Boston Red Sox finally paid off with four World Series in the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\">Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler!<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/dont-miss-out-on-doppler\/\"><u>here<\/u><\/a> to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.<br \/>\nLocal news in your inbox so you don&#8217;t miss anything!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"background: #5cb85c url('https:\/\/d1iczxrky3cnb2.cloudfront.net\/red_logo.png') no-repeat 37px; color: #fff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; display: inline-block; font-size: 16px; padding: 15px 38px; padding-left: 75px; -webkit-border-radius: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 2px; border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0 1px 0 0 #1f5a89; text-shadow: 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);\" href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/support-huntsville-doppler\">Click here to support local news<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><broadstreet-zone zone-id=\"45657\" keywords=\"\" soft-keywords=\"true\" zone-alias=\"\"><\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY STEVE PAIKEN (This commentary first appeared on TVO Today on June 17, 2026. It has been republished on Doppler with the author&#8217;s permission) The thing about turning 80, as [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1904,"featured_media":225502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Does Ernie Eves have any regrets? | Commentary - Huntsville Doppler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The thing about turning 80, as former Ontario premier Ernie Eves is doing today, is that it gives one an opportunity to look back.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/does-ernie-eves-have-any-regrets-commentary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does Ernie Eves have any regrets? 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