Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty sits in a GM hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

On Thursday, October 22 Ontario finance minister Dwight Duncan officially informed the provincial legislature that Canada’s most populous province will be running a deficit of some $24.7 billion for the current 2009-2010 fiscal year.

It has been noted that “while high by historic standards” this provincial Liberal number “is roughly proportional to Conservative Ottawa’s $55 billion and Conservative Alberta’s $4.7 billion.” But what does it really mean? More exactly, will there soon be some great popular revolt against one of the few last bastions of traditional Canadian Liberalism still more or less intact? Our resident Ontario historian Randall White (author of Ontario 1610-1985: A Political and Economic History, and Ontario Since 1985) offers his considered view: CLICK HERE or see the Canadian Provinces category to the right of this page.