How a 40-Year-Old Victory Shaped Those Who Came Next

My earliest years were shaped by decisions made by the political giants of the Peterson era, like David Peterson, Ian Scott, and Bob Nixon.

Earlier this month, I stood in a room full of people who changed Ontario for the better. We gathered in downtown Toronto to mark the 40^th anniversary of the Peterson Government. Four decades later, its five-year mission to modernize Ontario still impacts us today.

I wasn’t there in 1985. I was born nine months after the government was sworn into office in a public ceremony on the lawn of the legislature. But my earliest years were still shaped by decisions made by the political giants of that era, like David Peterson, Ian Scott, and Bob Nixon.

By the time I started kindergarten, the system had already been significantly expanded. I continued my learning in a school built during a wave of investment in public education. The Peterson Government believed the next generation was Ontario’s greatest asset, and they invested in us accordingly.

Even after the government left office, its decisions continued to shape my life and the lives of millions of Ontarians. Rent control, equal pay, early learning, recycling, and so much more. Many of the advancements that define modern Ontario today first took root during the Peterson years.

People not politics

But it’s not just the Peterson policy legacy that has stayed with me. It’s also the people. Many of those who served between 1985 and 1990 went on to play foundational roles in future Liberal governments. They trained new staff, passed down institutional knowledge, and modelled a type of political professionalism rooted in purpose, not ego.

Looking around the room at the reunion, I realized this may be one of the Peterson government’s greatest and most overlooked contributions: the deep culture of mentorship they fostered, which has continued to shape public life in Canada ever since. They’ve always understood that governing well in the moment isn’t enough. You also have to invest in the people who will shape what comes next.

Mentorship isn’t always glamorous. It’s not something that gets written into policy platforms or documented in memoirs. But it’s essential to political movements. It’s how values survive, lessons are learned, and teams are rebuilt after defeat. Even when you’re finished passing laws, there are still opportunities to pass the torch.

Establishing that sense of continuity doesn’t happen by accident. It’s created through real-life relationships forged by common purpose. The Peterson reunion event was proof of that. Even for someone my age, there were more familiar faces in the crowd than I expected.

Those behind the scenes played crucial roles

I worked with Vince Borg during his tenure as Ontario Liberal Party President in the Wynne era, but he got his start as a top advisor to Premier Peterson. Back in those days, Moira McIntyre managed Legislative Affairs. In my day, she was Deputy Chief of Staff to Premier Wynne. Patricia Sorbara was once the assistant to Peterson’s Executive Director, Gordon Ashworth. But for Liberals of my vintage, she’s better known as the campaign manager who helped lead the party to a surprise majority in 2014.

Deb Matthews and Jeff Leal, who had been staffers and organizers for Peterson in the 1980s, were also cabinet ministers and my bosses at the Ministry of Advanced Education and the Ministry of Agriculture. Also in attendance were two people who can only be described as institutions in their own right within the Liberal movement. Jim Bradley, who became the Dean of the Legislature through decades of public service, and David Innes, who has long served as the backbone of the Liberal Caucus Service Bureau. Both were key figures during my time in politics, too.

Former Premier Kathleen Wynne also made an appearance. It was during her leadership that I served in government. And it was during her election campaign that I first had the chance to write for Premier Peterson and later meet him in person. In many ways, both in policy and in staffing, her team carried forward the bold, modernizing spirit of the Peterson era.

While the Peterson team celebrated this week, I marked an anniversary of my own. It’s been seven years this month since I handed in my government BlackBerry and “retired” from politics. But if the people who mentored me have taught me anything, it’s that you never really leave the political arena.

Not when there are new problems to tackle, new people to mentor, and a better Ontario still waiting for us on the horizon. I can’t wait to see what the next generation of Ontario Liberals builds next. And like those who came before me, I’ll be waiting by the phone to lend a hand.