McGuinty fends off federal rumours

Premier Dalton McGuinty is dismissing reports he may be considering a run for the federal Liberal leadership.

“I want to remain married.”

He joked with reporters about the rumours, which were fueled by the fact that several high-profile federal Liberals attended his speech yesterday at the Economic Club of Canada.

McGuinty was discussing his healthy home renovation tax credit and also spoke about the upcoming budget.

“It’s going to have to reflect the fact that we’ve entered a period of slower economic growth. It’s going to have to be cogniscent of the challenges faced by the EU and the U.S., and it’s going to have to be in keeping with what we see in our homes today.”

“Families are spending less and saving more and paying down debt and we have to find a way to do the same kinds of things in government.”

Earlier McGuinty met with Alberta premier Alison Redford. They discussed a variety of issues but focused mainly on health care and renewable energy resources.

Redford is fresh off a trip to Washington where she was pushing the stalled Keystone XL pipeline plan. Transcanada has offered to re-route the controversial pipeline to avoid the ecologically sensitive Sandhills region of Nebraska. But American environmentalists say they’ll settle for nothing less than the outright death of the project.

A final ruling from the U.S. state department on the pipeline has been pushed back to 2013.

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