Jan 6, 2022·edited Jan 6, 2022Liked by Line Editor
You’re missing the point about Wynne, which is the same point most miss when reviewing a Premier’s crash into oblivion: quite simply, they have lost touch with the electorate. We can forgive the lies, and the mistakes, but when you talk down to us, like we’re a bunch of children, we’ll respond accordingly. Don’t treat us like we’re stupid. The teacher side of Wynne cannot stop lecturing us about how she is right. It’s an annoying tactic Elites like to do, and we’re just not buying it anymore.
It seems that while Ontarians were angry at the Wynn Liberals and voted them out, they turned around and voted the same team in Federally. Almost like they wanted the rest of Canada to suffer the bad decision making of Liberals. Thanks for nothing.
It seems like a lot of this critique could also be applied to the Trudeau Liberals. This is perhaps unsurprising given how much of their political staff and caucus have been drawn from the provincial governments of McGuinty and Wynne. What is interesting is that they were able to successfully apply the same approaches to an Ontario electorate that had soured on them at the provincial level.
I’m a staunch conservative but I’m really going to have to pinch my nose hard to avoid the stench and vote for Ford. He’s been a total failure and an embarrassment. His cabinet has been no better. To think they ran for the head of the party and all they can do is stand during media conferences, blinking their eyes. Maybe they’re using code to tell us to run.
Your subhead says that Ford deserves to lose but look at the opposition. It turns out that the opposition is not the Official Opposition but the Liberals. You dismiss the NDP with a couple of words ("chronically useless"). You call that analysis? How do you account for the fact that in every Ontario election, somewhere between 2 and 3 out of every 10 voters choose the NDP? That's a lot of people.
Kathleen Wynne said that she believed government was a force for good in people's lives. That's the problem with Liberals. They don't seem to understand who is the employer and who is the employee. DoFo is terrible. The alternatives are worse.
Ford is a populist in a province with a hard anti-populism bent. (It was literally founded by anti-populists who fled the American Revolution). That said, there has been so much immigration into Ontario the last 30 years the whole political culture is in flux, and he has reached out to those newcomers better than anyone else.
The NDP should have been smart enough to install a new leader in 2020. I’ve got nothing against Horvath, but it should be clear enough to party brass that Ontario won’t make her Premier.
Liberal arrogance is enough to keep me from voting for them ever again (Provincially or Federally), and I can’t stomach the DoFo Con-game, so…
I have certainly not paid the level of attention you have, but i am confused: Wynne’s sin is not admitting to mistakes? Which Premiere has? Which politician?
It's awfully hard to win re-election without some plausible storyline about the good you're doing for people. And it's not at all clear that Ford has that.
What is Doug Ford's greatest accomplishment? A supporter of Stephen Harper, or Mike Harris, or Brian Mulroney could propose answers if asked the same thing. So could a supporter of McGuinty, or Chretien, or Justin Trudeau (climate measures, however many kids he supposedly lifted out of poverty, legalizing pot, etc.). But what has Ford accomplished?
He opposed carbon taxes... which Ontario has anyway. He might not have spent quite as much as Liberals would, but Ford himself denies that he even wants to constrain spending. He flaps his gums about the economy, but what has he actually DONE that people could name? Ford had better hope people are still mad at Wynne even though she isn't on the ballot; unless he pulls a rabbit out of his hat at the last minute, that's about all he has.
You have a hate on Ford, but if you look at the last 2 years objectively, the picture is not bad. Presented with a pandemic no one had seen before, decisions had to be made in real time without a playbook. Mistakes were made, but compared to other jurisdiction Ontario has fared well. Last week the government were presented a picture by the experts that showed that the hospital system would be overwhelmed if nothing was done. The school closures I believe was a mistake, but something had to be done. If they open schools again in 2 weeks the political fallout will be limited.
And I do agree that alternatives are bad. And they will fight each other more than they will fight Ford.
You’re missing the point about Wynne, which is the same point most miss when reviewing a Premier’s crash into oblivion: quite simply, they have lost touch with the electorate. We can forgive the lies, and the mistakes, but when you talk down to us, like we’re a bunch of children, we’ll respond accordingly. Don’t treat us like we’re stupid. The teacher side of Wynne cannot stop lecturing us about how she is right. It’s an annoying tactic Elites like to do, and we’re just not buying it anymore.
It seems that while Ontarians were angry at the Wynn Liberals and voted them out, they turned around and voted the same team in Federally. Almost like they wanted the rest of Canada to suffer the bad decision making of Liberals. Thanks for nothing.
It seems like a lot of this critique could also be applied to the Trudeau Liberals. This is perhaps unsurprising given how much of their political staff and caucus have been drawn from the provincial governments of McGuinty and Wynne. What is interesting is that they were able to successfully apply the same approaches to an Ontario electorate that had soured on them at the provincial level.
I’m a staunch conservative but I’m really going to have to pinch my nose hard to avoid the stench and vote for Ford. He’s been a total failure and an embarrassment. His cabinet has been no better. To think they ran for the head of the party and all they can do is stand during media conferences, blinking their eyes. Maybe they’re using code to tell us to run.
Your subhead says that Ford deserves to lose but look at the opposition. It turns out that the opposition is not the Official Opposition but the Liberals. You dismiss the NDP with a couple of words ("chronically useless"). You call that analysis? How do you account for the fact that in every Ontario election, somewhere between 2 and 3 out of every 10 voters choose the NDP? That's a lot of people.
Kathleen Wynne said that she believed government was a force for good in people's lives. That's the problem with Liberals. They don't seem to understand who is the employer and who is the employee. DoFo is terrible. The alternatives are worse.
Ford is a populist in a province with a hard anti-populism bent. (It was literally founded by anti-populists who fled the American Revolution). That said, there has been so much immigration into Ontario the last 30 years the whole political culture is in flux, and he has reached out to those newcomers better than anyone else.
The NDP should have been smart enough to install a new leader in 2020. I’ve got nothing against Horvath, but it should be clear enough to party brass that Ontario won’t make her Premier.
Liberal arrogance is enough to keep me from voting for them ever again (Provincially or Federally), and I can’t stomach the DoFo Con-game, so…
I wonder if my riding has a Green candidate.
I have certainly not paid the level of attention you have, but i am confused: Wynne’s sin is not admitting to mistakes? Which Premiere has? Which politician?
It's awfully hard to win re-election without some plausible storyline about the good you're doing for people. And it's not at all clear that Ford has that.
What is Doug Ford's greatest accomplishment? A supporter of Stephen Harper, or Mike Harris, or Brian Mulroney could propose answers if asked the same thing. So could a supporter of McGuinty, or Chretien, or Justin Trudeau (climate measures, however many kids he supposedly lifted out of poverty, legalizing pot, etc.). But what has Ford accomplished?
He opposed carbon taxes... which Ontario has anyway. He might not have spent quite as much as Liberals would, but Ford himself denies that he even wants to constrain spending. He flaps his gums about the economy, but what has he actually DONE that people could name? Ford had better hope people are still mad at Wynne even though she isn't on the ballot; unless he pulls a rabbit out of his hat at the last minute, that's about all he has.
You have a hate on Ford, but if you look at the last 2 years objectively, the picture is not bad. Presented with a pandemic no one had seen before, decisions had to be made in real time without a playbook. Mistakes were made, but compared to other jurisdiction Ontario has fared well. Last week the government were presented a picture by the experts that showed that the hospital system would be overwhelmed if nothing was done. The school closures I believe was a mistake, but something had to be done. If they open schools again in 2 weeks the political fallout will be limited.
And I do agree that alternatives are bad. And they will fight each other more than they will fight Ford.