The eagerly anticipated Drummond report has been released – if you’re into horror stories, by all means curl up by the fire and read the full 562 pages here.

In it, Drummond offers 320 recommendations. The initial reaction by many pundits is that this puts NcGuinty in a bind, since he will never agree to reverse tuition cuts or scrap full-day kindergarten.

Actually, the report might prove to be a political saving-grace for McGuinty. Tough cuts are coming, and this report offers McGuinty the political cover he needs to implement them. Because if those on left holler about cuts, McGuinty can calmly put his hand on their shoulder and in his best Premier dad voice say “I know it’s been tough, but it could have been a lot worse“; this gives him an opportunity to present himself as the saviour of green energy and education all over again.

Politics is all about managing expectations, and anything McGuinty brings forward now is going to seem a lot less draconian, when measured against the Drummond benchmark.

Mind you, that’s assuming McGuinty brings forward a serious budget this spring. If he just plugs his ears and ignores the bulk of the valuable advice Drummond offers, then McGuinty will have effectively used taxpayer dollars to help develop the backbone of Tim Hudak’s next election platform.

Stay tuned.