Is former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty ‘redeemed?’

Apparently, unpopular Canadian politicians don't stay in the proverbial outhouse for very long.

According to an article in the Toronto Star, former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's appearance at the government's swearing-in ceremony recently could be a sign of things to come.

The Star says that the man formerly known as 'Premier Dad' is "relaxed, renewed, redeemed."

The full — well written — article can be seen here.

McGuinty announced his resignation as Liberal Party leader in October 2012 amid growing controversy over the cancellation of two gas power plant projects — during the 2011 election campaign — which cost Ontario taxpayers over $1 billion. To this day, the OPP continue to investigate allegations that political staffers may have deleted emails that contained information about the scandal.

In fact, after almost a decade in office, McGuinty has had to stick handle through an impressive list of embarrassments.

His political fumbles have included the aforementioned gas plant scandal, E-health mess, the Ornge scandal and the so-called McGuinty slush fund.

[ Related: Why are Ontarians ignoring the Liberal scandals? ]

Moreover, some still blame McGuinty for the province's high unemployment rate, massive debt and deficits and for turning Canada's most-populous province into a 'have-not' province.

Indeed, if social media is any indication, not everyone is ready for McGuinty's redemption:

Canada, however, has a history of unpopular, and even disgraced, politicians who 'redeemed' themselves and have became very successful respected members of society.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney is a perfect example. He resigned in 1993 with an approval rating in the low-twenties. Moreover, in his early post-24 Sussex years, he was continually dogged by allegations of corruption with regard to the Airbus affair. But now Mulroney sits on several corporate boards — likely earning a seven-figure annual salary — and was recently named Chairman of media and telecom giant Quebecor.

By most accounts, former Ontario Premier Bob Rae was not a popular premier of Ontario. Over the past few years, he's become a respected former leader of the federal Liberals and is now the chief negotiator for First Nations in talks with the Ontario government about development of the Ring of Fire.

And former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell — who was forced to quit after the introduction of the harmonized sales tax (HST) pushed his popularity into single digits — is now Canada's respected High Commissioner in the U.K..

[ More Politics: What’s the big deal about Alberta's licence plate slogan? ]

Ultimately, political leaders become chiefs of their political parties because they are truly exceptional people. They are great communicators, hard workers, very intelligent, have an amazing network of contacts, have a knack for winning people over and are charismatic.

These are people destined for success no matter what line of work they choose.

There are certainly some who want to ship McGuinty off to Siberia for a few years, but he — like Campbell, Rae and Mulroney before him — is on the path to public redemption.

We had all better get used to it.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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