You have to wonder whether Premier Dalton McGuinty was that kid in school who played with matches. Not to intentionally burn things down, just because, you know, some kids play with matches. He didn’t mean any harm so he couldn’t possibly be held responsible.

It’s like Ontario’s economy — it’s burning around us, but McGuinty couldn’t possibly be to blame.

After all, he’s only been in charge for the past eight years.

As the Teflon premier’s government racks up more scandals than we can afford — he skips merrily along as if nothing is wrong and all is well in the world.

That’s the fascinating part about his reign as premier, things are well in the world of McGuinty. He has never been held responsible for the list of boondoggles that grows by the week, hence the Teflon moniker.

Sure, he has had to answer some difficult questions when the latest screw up comes to light and yes he was relegated to a minority government in the last election. None of that matters, he governs as if it’s a majority.

But rarely does he endure the sustained, daily pounding from the public and media that other political leaders experience. The two most obvious examples are Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

Ford can’t walk out of his house without someone getting offended by something he may or may not have said or done.

As for Harper, when one of his cabinet ministers does something idiotic (another growing list), it’s the PM that is blamed.

So why is it that the buck stops with them but the premier is held to a different standard?

It has to be more than the notion some have suggested that right leaning politicians are more heavily scrutinized than left leaning ones.

And it would be a mistake to blame a supposedly ineffectual opposition or the media.

Perhaps it’s because McGuinty has mastered the art of the “oh gosh” and “gee shucks” type of response when a scandal erupts.

Not too many people can stay angry at someone who stands in front of the cameras and says so sympathetically (and I am paraphrasing): “It’s so unfortunate that $1 billion of your money was wasted on consultants for an eHealth system that still doesn’t work — but don’t worry, we promise to do better next time.”

And to ensure he isn’t associated with a scandal for too long, if at all — he has employed the tactic of putting cabinet ministers in the line of fire. An oft-used strategy by most politicians, McGuinty has it down to a science.

Just last week his Energy Minister Chris Bentley revealed that $180 million of taxpayers' money was going up in smoke because of the Liberal Party’s mid-election decision to cancel the gas-fired power plant in Mississauga and relocate it outside of Sarnia.

It wasn’t McGuinty answering the tough questions — it was Bentley and campaign chair Greg Sorbara.

Or during the rigourous debate on Gay-Straight Alliances in public schools, it was Education Minister Laurel Broten who bore the brunt of the backlash.

He can even use former health minister George Smitherman as a scapegoat on the eHealth and ORNGE fiascos.

But what he can’t hide behind are the fiscal realities facing our province since he’s been at the helm.

Including electricity rates which have gone through the roof, driving businesses away and hurting families.

Manufacturing jobs have been steadily eroded from the province. Taxes and user fees have grown like noxious weeds in herbicide-free Ontario.

His signature green energy act? The Auditor General of Ontario, Jim McCarter sums that up nicely: “no independent, objective, expert investigation had been done to examine the potential effects of renewable energy policies on prices, job creation, and greenhouse gas emissions.” As a result, “billions of dollars were committed to renewable energy without fully evaluating the impact, the trade-offs, and the alternatives through a comprehensive business-case analysis.”

The premier’s answer to any conflict has been to dig into our pockets and buy silence.

That’s what has happened with the teachers, doctors and public servants over the past eight years. It’s also how we have ended up with a $15 billion budget deficit.

Not to mention a litany of broken promises, notably the “I won’t raise your taxes” pledge.

So how does he get away with letting all of these fiscal fires burn around us?

Maybe we all need to look at ourselves in the mirror for the answer.