TORONTO - Premier Dalton McGuinty is trying to use plum government appointments to get the majority the Liberals were denied by voters in last fall's election, Ontario's opposition parties charged Monday.

McGuinty already created the need for one byelection by naming veteran Progressive Conservative Elizabeth Witmer to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and there are reports the Liberals are making similar job offers to other Tories.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said voters are turned off politics and get very cynical when they hear McGuinty is using plum public appointments to try to alter the makeup of the legislature.

"They’re concerned that a premier would abuse the public appointments process for his own partisan needs," Horwath told the legislature.

"They’re concerned about the complete contempt that shows for other MPPs, and they’re most concerned because it means the premier is more worried about his political challenges instead of the challenges that they face each and every day."

The Progressive Conservatives expressed frustration that the Liberals seem focused on getting the one seat they need for a majority while virtually ignoring a recent credit downgrade by Moody's.

"That should be a huge alarm bell that we’re teetering on the brink of a huge fiscal crisis in the province of Ontario," said Opposition Leader Tim Hudak.

"So what’s the government’s response? They look to buy seats and have byelections."

McGuinty dismissed a public report claiming he had bragged to the Liberal caucus about offering appointments to at least two more opposition members in hopes of creating another vacancy, telling the legislature not to put any credit in unnamed sources.

The premier then mocked the opposition parties, inviting Tories and New Democrats to cross the floor and sit as Liberals in a majority government.

"If there are any people on those (opposition) benches who want to come over and sit on this side of the floor, they will be welcomed with open arms," McGuinty said with a laugh.

"This is very difficult for me to say, but there are no exceptions. They will all be welcome."

Outside the legislature, Horwath said voters don't find the Liberals' political manoeuvring to be very funny.

"I think Ontarians are wondering why the priority of the premier is about which MPP might be ripe for the picking as opposed to which kind of policy changes they can make to make life better for everyday folks," she said.

"People would, I think, prefer us to focus on their problems, their concerns, than the games around here that will get government more power."

The premier has up to six months to call the byelection to replace Witmer in Kitchener-Waterloo. While campaigning in the riding last week, McGuinty said he doesn't believe in calling snap byelections in hopes of catching the opposition parties off guard.

The Liberals fell just one seat short of a majority in the provincial election Oct. 6, taking 53 seats compared to 54 for the combined Tories and New Democrats. With Witmer's resignation, the opposition benches were reduced to 53 members — the same number as the government, but Liberal Speaker Dave Levac would vote only in cases of a tie.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly stated the number of seats held by the Liberals and opposition parties and misidentified the Speaker.

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• Recent Federal Floor Crossers

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/10/lise-st-denis-ndp-join-liberals_n_1196406.html?ref=canada-politics">Lise St-Denis' defection from the NDP to the Liberals</a> has put crossing the floor back in the news. Here's a list of other recent federal floor crossers.

• Lise St-Denis

  The newly elected NDP MP jumped ship to the Liberals just 5 months after the federal election of 2011. St-Denis faced harsh criticism from those who saw the move as disregarding the will of her constituents. Many argued that voters in St-Denis' Quebec riding had voted for Jack Layton and not for her.

• Belinda Stronach

  In 2005, Belinda Stronach, Conservative MP and daughter of billionaire Frank Stronach, crossed the floor and joined Paul Martin's Liberal Party. She was named Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal.

• David Emerson

  In 2006, Liberal MP David Emerson joined the Conservatives just two weeks after being elected. He was named Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics.

• Wajid Khan

  In 2007, Wajid Khan jumped from the Liberals to the Conservatives after then-Liberal leader Stéphane Dion stated that Khan would not be permitted to continue in his role as an advisor to Stephen Harper.

• Carolyn Parrish

  Carolyn Parish was suspended from the Liberal caucus in 2004 after stomping on a George Bush doll for a "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" sketch. The outspoken MP subsequently decided to sit as an independent.

• Keith Martin

  In 2004, Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin renounced his party to sit as an independent and announced he would seek to run as a Liberal in the next election. His move was a response to the merger between the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives. He would go on to win the Liberal nomination in his riding and the election and sat in the Liberal caucus until his retirement in 2011.

• Bob Rae

  While Bob Rae isn't technically a floor crosser (he didn't switch parties while sitting as an MP) the interim Liberal leader did switch parties. Rae governed Ontario has the province's NDP premier from 1990-1995. In 1996 he resigned as leader of the Ontario NDP and in 1998 resigned from the party altogether. He returned to politics in 2006, joining the Liberal Party and running for its leadership. He was defeated in his leadership bid by Stéphane Dion, but won the federal riding of Toronto Centre in 2007.

• Ujjal Dosanjh

  Ujjal Dosanjh shares a similar story to Bob Rae. He served as NDP premier of B.C. from 2000-2001, but later joined the federal Liberals. He served as an Liberal MP from 2004 until his defeat in the most recent federal election.