MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Like a five-year-old who performs well in a kindergarten classroom, Prime Minister Stephen Harper should get "positive reinforcement" for a multimillion-dollar handout to Ontario's troubled auto sector that came just days before an expected election call, Ontario's premier said Wednesday.

Dalton McGuinty, once dubbed the "small man of Confederation" by the federal Conservatives, drew a few laughs after suggesting his wife's method of encouraging good behaviour in unruly pupils could also work on Harper.

"Terri was back in the classroom yesterday and she teaches five-year-olds, my wife," McGuinty said at an event in Mississauga, Ont.

"And she's talking about the importance of positive reinforcement. So I'm going to positively reinforce the behaviour of the federal government today. It's good action."

McGuinty's tongue-in-cheek remark came as Harper doled out tens of millions of dollars in federal loans to help reopen a closed engine plant in Windsor, one of the main hubs of the country's troubled automotive sector.

While Harper and Industry Minister Jim Prentice were preparing for the announcement at Ford's mothballed Essex plant, McGuinty and Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan were touting provincial tax cuts to businesses at the Honeywell aerospace facility west of Toronto.

It was an odd juxtaposition, considering how the two sides had sparred over the handling of Ontario's faltering economy -- a feud that seems far from over.

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has insisted tax cuts -- not direct government investments -- are the best way to encourage investment and create new jobs.

McGuinty favours "strategic investment," saying he has cut business taxes already and won't jeopardize much-needed revenue to fund the province's social programs.

The two governments traded personal insults and barbs before the war of words died down after polls suggested the bickering was hurting the Tories in vote-rich Ontario.

But the relationship is still showing signs of strain.

McGuinty acknowledged early Wednesday he was unaware of the details of the federal announcement, while Duncan -- whose riding includes Windsor -- said he wasn't invited to the event, although he was told that an announcement was imminent.

While the Conservatives' conveniently timed funding is "good news" for Windsor, it still doesn't address Ottawa's unfair treatment of his province, McGuinty said.

"Southern Ontario is the only region in the country which does not benefit from a regional economic development fund or program of any kind," he said.

"Historically, the federal government has assumed southern Ontario has been and always will be self-sufficient. And from time to time, history shows that we can all use a bit more effort. We can all come together."

McGuinty has also warned that he'll remind voters about Ontario's plight during the looming federal election.

He argues that Ontario is getting less than other provinces when it comes to employment insurance benefits and health-care dollars and is being shortchanged in infrastructure funding.

Ontario should be getting an extra $3 billion a year from the federal treasury -- money that could be used to help kick-start the province's lagging economy, McGuinty said.

About 900 people lost their jobs when the Essex engine plant was shut down last year, some of whom later found work at the Ford (NYSE:F) facility in Oakville, Ont.

Some have questioned the timing of Harper's announcement, given the Conservatives' silence in April about whether they would help the plant reopen by matching Ontario's pledge of $17 million.

Ford had warned it would not expand the $168-million plan to reopen the plant without Ottawa's help.