For nine years Dalton McGuinty has been the Premier from Ottawa who focused on education.
McGuinty's announcement to resign as Premier on Tuesday stunned teachers across the province.
“Absolute shock at the timing of it. Genuinely, I don't believe any of us saw this coming," Peter Giulani, Head of Ottawa-Carleton District Elementary School Federation.
Many call him the father of All-Day kindergarten in Ontario. But the model got mixed reactions from parents.
“They enjoy it. I mean, they make more friends. They learn more stuff so I think it's worth it," said Naseema, a parent of Manor Park Public School.
“I think the kids are too young to have a whole day. Some of these kids are here nine, ten hours a day and it's just a little too much for them. I know my daughter she's very, very tired when she gets home. Very grumpy," said Darrell Angus, a parent of Manor Park Public School.
But the education premier's legacy has been endangered by a bruising battle with teachers over a wage freeze.
“It would be a lie to say that we don't take some satisfaction in this but at the same time we're concerned because there's still a big mess to be dealt with and if you're going to be a lame duck premier then we're not even sure what you could do to fix it if you had the will to," said Giulani.
McGuinty is also leaving behind his work in green energy.
"I think his legacy is going to be badly tarnished by the policies he adopted in the energy field that have ended up driving up the costs very very dramatically in Ontario to consumers," said Ian Lee, Professor at Carleton University.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Norman Fetterley.
