Shorter Jim Flaherty

Ontario is teh stupid!

Now why, oh why, doesn't Ontario move to support the Conservative Party?

Not Exactly A Ringing Endorsement

John Tory got only 66.9% of the vote at the Ontario PC convention in London. In my mind there's the distinct possibility that this could lead to a protracted power struggle. It doesn't seem from the reports that Mr. Tory is ready to go quietly into the good night. Will the 2011 Ontario election be a contest between a Liberal government that may be starting to look a little shopworn and some Mike Harris clone? I'm starting to think that's a very likely scenario.

John Tory's Moment of Truth

This weekend is it for Tory, he's got convince the Ontario PCs that he ought to be leader or a leadership race will be triggered. I'm not a PC and I didn't support Tory for premier last fall, but I kind of want him to stay on. Have a moderate, reddish tory leading the PCs means that the politics in this province are not shifted to the right. The risk here is that the PCs will select another Harrisite to run the show.

A Man I'd Never Want as Premier

Crazy highway-blocking idiot, Randy Hillier is contemplating a run at leading the Ontario PCs. He'll make Mike Harris look like Bill Davis I bet.

Stand Up For Canada*

*Ontario not included.

The Star's editorial today is spot on about Ontario getting cheated out of representation by population. It seems that the job of raising concern over this has largely been left to Queens Park. The Liberals and the NDP need to be more vocal about this issue.

In general Ontario goes along to get along as they say. And sure, as long as we had all the money and a great deal of political power concentrated here, that was fine. Now though we have a Western-based party obsessed with non-renewable resources at the apparent expense of manufacturing and we need to stand the hell up and assert ourselves. We want our democratic rights, we want our votes to count! Stop trying to silence us!

Parties that pussyfoot around this issue for fear of losing votes elsewhere should not expect Ontarians' votes in the next election.

Four More Years, But Why?

It appears that I was wrong when I said that John Tory would drop his Ontario PC leader job like a bad habit after a loss in the provincial vote this fall. Not so though, it appears now that Tory is fighting to keep his job. Overall, while I'm not eager to see Tory become premier, he remains more palatable than, say, Frank Klees or any of the other Harrisites.

One wonders though exactly what Tory will develop in terms of a platform that he can use in the next election. I don't think he'll touch education again and the McGuinty-is-a-liar meme never had the traction that the PCs thought it might.

Ask a Right-Wing Editorial Board

Q: How might we solve poverty in Ontario?

A: Tax cuts!

MMP: Where did it all go wrong?

A couple theories:

It was overwhelmed by the election
Holding the referendum at the same time as the provincial election meant that it was overshadowed from the get-go. Most news coverage over the course of the election had a package on what each leader did on that day and then maybe - maybe - there would be a little bit tacked on about there being a referendum. We were too busy worrying about Tory's faith-based schools to really have a conversation about this.

It could have been explained much better
Most of the official government material was scrupulously neutral as well as vague. There were big full page ads saying things like "Make sure you understand your choice" or something like that. Of course it didn't explain very much what the choice was. I wonder how many people thought that it was just a reminder about there being a general election. When they proposed electoral reform in BC, every household got a copy of the report. We got a few vague full-page ads.

The MSM
Yes the pro-MMP forces blogged up a fury, yes we killed in the Facebook group race, but even in this new media age, more people probably based their decision on the Toronto Star's fearmongering editorials. The MSM still dominates political debate for most people.

Ontario's Political Culture
It seems that we are inherently cautious in this province. Most of the major political protest movements (CCF/NDP, Social Credit, The Progressive Party, Reform) came out of the West. We elected the Progressive Conservatives continuously for some 40 years. The first province to give the vote to women was Manitoba. When some form of PR breaks through in Canada, my prediction is that it will take place in the West.

CBC calls it for Dalton McGuinty

This comes as no surprise - at least not to me. What remains to be seen:
Will John Tory have a seat?
and
What of MMP?

Vote MMP - So Your Vote Will Always Count

I can't think of anything else to say about MMP that I haven't said over the past month or so. Every critique offered up against MMP been answered by a whole a host of pro-MMP bloggers. It's been tiring because it seems to have been the same one or two scare tactics (Unstable governments! Small parties holding the balance of power!) that were tossed out repeatedly.

MMP is simple, every vote counts. I'm going to go and vote in a riding where one candidate is absolutely expected to annihilate the competition. If I vote for this candidate, it will only add to a huge majority, if I vote against it won't matter. Why even vote? With MMP my vote will still count. Chances are you may well be in the same position. If you want your vote, and every other citizen's vote to count every time, choose MMP.

MMP: Get your ass out and vote tomorrow

Some final links on the topic of MMP:

• Everything that I've blogged about MMP is here.
• If staggering prose doesn't convince you, here's the official Vote for MMP site.
• Dr. Dawg's ten lies about MMP are here.
• Liberals for MMP.
• Conservatives for MMP.
• Andrew Coyne had written on this topic a great deal.

And finally, MMP is endorsed by Stompin' Tom Connors! How can you say no to the man that wrote this song:

A particularly bad (but probably not uncommon) reason not to support MMP

Heard the other night:
"If this thing passes then we'll be the only province doing this you know."
Yes, that was the argument against MMP. It may seem silly to a political junkie, but that may be a fairly common sentiment to those unfamiliar with the topic. Talk to everyone you know if you support MMP, people may hold to reasoning like this. Once you take the time to explain the benefits of MMP though, they often come around.

MMP is, I think at least, fairly simple, but it is new and perhaps unfamiliar to many in Ontario. If people have the "it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude (perhaps not realizing how FPTP is broken since it gives majorities to parties that have lost the popular vote), then they may not be interested in changing the current system for something that is new.

MMP is simple and effective, let's let people know.

MMP: Hope on the ground

I was out with a few friends last night and when the topic of the election came up (I swear that it wasn't me who brought it up) those that were aware of the referendum question were very much in favour of MMP. It seems to be the case that once people are aware of the referendum as well as the two choices they come around to MMP. The problem though is getting that information out. I have not really bothered looking at the government information sent out, but apparently if you aren't a politics junkie it seems obscure.

I still feel as though ignorance is the greatest threat to MMP, but with the election ever more appearing to be another Liberal win with the only question being whether Dalton gets a majority or a minority, more attention will shift to the referendum. The relatively uncompetitive of campaign of John Tory thus far may, in an odd way, work in the favour of MMP.

Who does David Shiner work for?

If you're a Toronto taxpayer then the answer is "not you"* since he's too busy running for provincial office to be a city councillor. Now it would be bad enough if he were drawing a salary from the city and maintaining his seat on council (incumbency goes a long way in Toronto). But no, now he's using his spot on city council to campaign for the PC party on the council floor! An account from Spacing.ca:

"In the midst of questioning Mayor David Miller on the cost containment measures, Shiner took the time to remind everyone what John Tory would offer cities before asking if the mayor would show more support for provincial party platforms that provide financial relief for Toronto."

So it's not enough for Shiner to run for another office while drawing a taxpayer salary, he's going to go stump for his party boss while under the guise of a representative of the people of this city! This man deserves to lose. I used to live in Willowdale and I wish I could vote in more election there just to have the opportunity to vote against this self-serving asshole.
*Unless John Tory pays taxes in Toronto, then it's "probably not you"

John Tory is in trouble

It appears as though the faith-based schools thing just isn't all that popular. One wonders what it is that prompted Tory to make this a centerpiece of his campaign. I mean I had thought that Tory was painting himself as a sort of Anti-Mike-Harris moderate. It's incongruous to that sort of image to announce a further outflow of funds from public education. Perhaps Tory was simply searching for a policy that would differentiate his brand identity of moderate, prudent government from that of Dalton McGuinty's.

My feeling going into this election was that there just isn't a great desire for change in the province, Tory (and Hampton for that matter) were up against that reality to start with. I think Tory was always going to have to run a stellar campaign with a really solid platform to unseat the Liberals. I suppose this is somewhat good news for the NDP as those cowed into voting Liberal in the last couple elections out of fear of the Common Sense Revolution may not now feel the need to do so.

National Post Should Re-Read the Constitution

Not a newspaper to let facts ruin a tirade against anyone other than right-wingers, the Post came up with this gem this morning:

"In terms of the land holdings at play, the Caledonia crisis is small compared to similar disputes in other parts of Canada. But this is beside the point. The bottom line is that a group of hooligans is openly flouting the government -- and Mr. Mc-Guinty [sic] has done nothing about it except attempt to shift blame to Ottawa."

Leaving aside the characterization of Caledonia's protesters as "hooligans" and the National Post's general (willful?) ignorance of the more complicated historical issues involved in native rights, this is a federal issue! Read the constitution, National Post. The feds have been happy to leave this problem in Ontario's hands for a couple years now, if the federal government stepped in on the original land claim matter, Ontario might have more authority to resolve the issue.

John Tory: Government Revenue is Magic!

Andy Barrie just asked Tory how he'd pay for his increased investment in private schools and MD recruiting and his reply was that government revenue will grow by $5 billion every year (and presumably all other expenses will remain constant). This guy was in business? More detail, please Mr. Tory. Also explain how this will happen as our manufacturing sector continues to slide.

MMP Referendum Fairness

There was a news release from the No MMP side that Cherniak quoted rather sympathetically where they were up in arms about the government run yourbigdecision.ca website:

"Elections Ontario has refused an official request from NO MMP to remove the Citizens’ Assembly website from www.yourbigdecision.ca, a website meant to inform Ontario voters about their choices in the referendum."

First of all, the website in question is hardly a one-sided propaganda machine for MMP. Secondly, I'd remind the No MMP types that MMP requires a ludicrous super-majority to win. I don't know about every MMP supporter, but I'd take down the government website in exchange for needing only 50%-plus-one to carry the referendum. Under FPTP you can get a majority government with less than that.

....and we're off!

Today is the day that we expect Dalton McGuinty to have David Onley to dissolve the Ontario legislature. It's odd though, because it seems like we've in the midst of an Ontario election for at least a month, I've even seen campaign signs in places (though I'm not sure that's legal). If there's a drawback to fixed elections surely this is it. The campaign appeared to start over the summer this time, but next time it could be the spring. This will of course make things cost an ever greater amount.

New Holiday?!

It appears that the Liberals are promising us a new holiday if they are re-elected. I'd agree that we need a day off in February - it is the most miserable time of the year - but calling it Family Day? It seems like they just picked the most politically safe name possible. I suppose Month-When-Most-Leafs-Fans-Start-To-Realize-It's-Futile Day was rejected as too Toronto-centric.

Sigh...