Ernie Eves turns 80 and considers a life in politics

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’s office two decades later, managing some unprecedented catastrophes.

The stuff that happened in between is what I wanted Ontario’s 23rd premier to think about during a wide-ranging, hour-long conversation we had last week.

Eves’s story is unique in Ontario political history. Born into a working-class family in the City of Windsor – Municipal Government, he became a lawyer in Parry Sound, Ontario and then earned the nickname “Landslide Ernie” for his razor-thin victory in 1981. He spent ten years in opposition before becoming Premier Mike Harris’s 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.

But Harris’s retirement from politics in 2002 spurred a groundswell of support from Eves’s 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.

Then the roof fell in […] This is an excerpt. Read the full article at TVO.org.

(Photo: Ernie Eves and Bob Rae represented different parties at Queen’s Park, but shared a mutual respect and were even golfing buddies. This picture was taken in November 2022).