and an Anglophone father, McGuinty is bilingual. McGuinty is the second Roman Catholic to hold the premiership. His father is Irish, and his mother is English and French Canadian. His maternal grandfather immigrated to Canada from England. He has nine brothers and sisters. His younger brother David has represented the riding of Ottawa South in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. He is an alumnus of St. Patrick's High School in Ottawa, earning a B.Sc. in biology from McMaster University. He then earned his LL.B from the University of Ottawa before practicing law in Ottawa. Since 1980, he has been married to high school girlfriend Terri McGuinty, an elementary school teacher. The couple have one daughter and three sons. Member of Provincial Parliament McGuinty's father, Dalton Sr., served as Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Ottawa South until his death in 1990. Dalton Jr. won the Liberal Party's nomination for his father's former riding for the provincial election of 1990 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Liberal government of David Peterson was defeated by the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) in that election. In opposition, McGuinty served as the Liberal Party's critic for energy, environment and colleges and universities. He was re-elected in Ottawa South in the 1995 provincial election without much difficulty. The Liberals maintained their status as the official opposition amid a provincial swing from the NDP to the Progressive Conservatives. Provincial leadership McGuinty's supporters in his 1996 leadership bid included John Manley, Murray Elston, and Bob Chiarelli. He was elected leader at the party's convention December in a surprise victory over front-runner Gerard Kennedy. Kennedy, a former head of Toronto's Daily Bread food bank, was popular on the progressive wing of the party, while McGuinty built his core support on its establishment and pro-business right-wing. McGuinty was fourth on the first and second ballots, closely behind Dwight Duncan. He then overtook Duncan and Joe Cordiano on the third and fourth ballots, respectively, receiving the support of their delegates to win on the fifth ballot over Kennedy. Critics called McGuinty "Harris Lite", but his supporters argued that a right-leaning leader like McGuinty was necessary to compete against the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) of Premier Mike Harris. Opposition leader McGuinty's first term in opposition was difficult. The governing Progressive Conservatives played up McGuinty's low profile by defining him