Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty has hinted that he might not be around for a full third term if his Liberal party holds on to power in this fall's provincial election.

In an exclusive interview Thursday with CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss, McGuinty hedged about his future when Bliss asked him, "If you win in October, are you going to serve out your four years?"

The premier responded by saying, "I'm not going to speculate as to how long, but I can say that I am absolutely committed to seeing the policies through that we've already put in place."

McGuinty also said he is committed to "ensuring that we also take the next step forward to ensure that we have the strongest possible economy that supports our schools and our hospitals and good jobs for our kids."

The 55-year-old McGuinty was first elected to represent Ottawa South as a Liberal MPP in 1990.

He became party leader in 1996, but lost his first election campaign to then-premier Mike Harris's Progressive Conservatives in 1999.

McGuinty led his Liberals to a majority government in 2003 against then-Tory leader Ernie Eves. He held power in 2007, defeating the Tories, who were led by John Tory.

The Liberals now dominate the legislature with 72 seats, while the Progressive Conservatives have 25 and the NDP have 10, but winning a third majority government has been a very difficult task in the past for Ontario premiers.

In the Oct. 6 provincial election, McGuinty's main opponents will be Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

Both Horwath and Hudak have been attacking unpopular McGuinty policies such as the HST, which harmonized the province’s sales tax regime with the federal GST on July 1, 2010.

McGuinty said he will not cut the provincial portion of the 13 per cent tax (the GST accounts for five percentage points) either before or after the election.

The government will not exempt any more items because the HST is a solid financial policy that has been recommended by economists, the premier said.

The interview was conducted with Terri, the premier's wife. Although her husband has been in elected politics for 20 years, she said it hasn't changed him much except for two things.

"Just grey hair … and a little more… I wouldn't say romantic but sensitive," Terri said. "He'll talk about his feelings more, which is really nice."

CTV Toronto will have more of the interview on Friday.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss