A healthy democracy flourishes when there is a constant and equal struggle between two opposing sides. This keeps both in check and minimizes temptation for the Government of the day to take advantage of being in power. They are held to account and know that if they don’t perform responsibly they’ll likely get tossed out on their ears next election.
We’ve seen this push and pull happening recently in BC with the NDP forming government with the help of the Green Party. They are now on watch and the people will decide if the Liberals need a stronger mandate next election.
In Alberta we are witnessing an historic vote today regarding the proposed PC-Wild Rose merger. If the centre-right parties are able to find consensus, it would assist in the eventual re-establishment of economic stability,
Finally in Ontario we will be facing an election next year after almost 15 years of a Liberal party being in power. This Liberal party’s hold on power has veered from a fairly responsible centrist philosophy to a terribly destructive far-left direction under Kathleen Wynne.
Historically Ontario usually votes one way federally and another provincially – possibly as a measure to maintain a healthy balance of power.
If I had to pick one or the other I’d be hoping Trudeau stays in power for another term if it means getting rid of Liberals in Ontario. Yes that’s how bad I want Wynne gone.
Those are my honest opinions on the subject and you are welcome to express yours in the comment section.
Update:
Awesome news from Alberta! Alberta PCs and Wildrose vote to merge as United Conservative Party
Blue Like You2 
All we can do is hope but she’s really buying a lot of people with her handouts. People will forget the scandals, they re-elected her when the scandals were fresh so chances are they won’t be a factor. What’s left? What really should be irking the masses in Ontario is her ads on prime time TV and radio touting her programs. Brown is going to have to be very smart to out smart her.
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Fully agree and right now asides from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and maybe Quebec we are mostly dominated by left wing governments. Agree it’s more important to defeat Wynne than Trudeau not that she is worse, but the OLP has been in power longer and created more damage. I actually feel pretty optimistic about our chances in both Ontario and Alberta. Less so federally while BC is a real wildcard. In the US it is the opposite way heavily dominated by the right mind you in 2008 the Democrats had similar dominance to progressives in Canada so let’s hope things will change. Australia was even worse in 2007 when the Labor Party held every state and the federal government but that has been corrected since.
I agree with Liz J Wynne is a tough opponent, but I’ve also never seen a premier with an approval rating under 20 percent be re-elected. My biggest fear is Wynne would step down in which case I fear the OLP may have won, but it’s probably too late for that now. Her approval rating is similar to what Greg Selinger’s was in Manitoba and significantly worse than what Harper’s was when defeated. I think the OLP will take the 416 area code but lose elsewhere, while the NDP will probably take Northern Ontario if they don’t already hold it, but not too many ridings there. 905 belt is the key and I think we can win that as long as Brown doesn’t do anything too stupid.
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Note to Joanne & readers: I’m on my new computer but using my old keyboard, which shows odd characters instead of the ones required. For example, the single quotation mark may show as <. The forward slash may show as §. Please forgive until problem fixed.
I can’t comment about Ontario … but one thing conservatives have to decide is what is more important: defeating the ruling leftist party OR sending a message to the respective conservative party and its leader that they’re not conservative enough. I despair whenever I see angry conservatives writing and practically boasting they stayed home rather than vote for the Conservatives because this or that policy was not implemented, for example not closing down the CBC — which will never happen, folks, get real!
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I think I’m one of those angry conservatives you mentioned, Gabby. I would love to be able to stay home or to vote for some obscure yet palatable party. However, there are really only three parties that have a chance of winning the next election and voting for some other party may satisfy my urge to punish Patrick Brown and the conservatives. But if enough people do the same, it allows one of the other two parties to come up the middle. So, I’ve decided that my vote needs to count and I’ll just have to hold my nose and vote for the best of a bad lot. Ontario can’t take much more destruction by the socialists. The bottom of the barrel looms and it doesn’t look good.
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“… I’ll just have to hold my nose and vote for the best of a bad lot.”
Wise move.
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Agreed. Least harmful if that’s all you can narrow it down to.
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No worries about any character oddities Gabby. We will figure it out. 😉
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Thanks.
On a totally different topic …
Did any of the regular commenters here ever sign up for a Facebook account? If yes, did you sign up with your real name?
The reason I ask: after signing up last week I was informed that my account was deactivated because I did not use my real name. Some questions arise:
– How did FB find out the name I used was not my real name?
– Does FB have access to IP lists of names & numbers?
– If yes, are IPs obliged to provide that information? Is that legal?
I know, I’m totally clueless when it comes to such matters … but before you start questioning why I would ever want to join FB, I finally decided to because it is the only way one can post a comment on some newspaper sites (National Post, Ottawa Citizen, for example). There are very few venues left where I can comment, so I finally decided to join FB.
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I know a lot of people that just use their first and second name, not their last name
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Thanks for that info.
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but you are right about commenting and needing to be on Facebook to do it. I just commented on David Akin’s Facebook page. I would like someone to tell us the cost of the security detail for the PM to go to all these parades that he thinks he has to march in.
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I think it’s their strategy to play the celebrity card,get lots of selfies, be seen everywhere, It’s a phenomenon not seen before with a Prime Minister, none were considered to have that beefcake quality. It seems to compensate for his stammering along as he tries to answer critical questions not scripted for a certain demographic. If that’s what works to get elected they’ll continue to fly with it. It’s a sad reflection on the Canadian electorate.
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It’s just Trudeau posing, posturing & pandering for votes.
David Akin is one of the best at digging up MPs’ expense accounts & costs of government programs. I really miss reading his posts & being able to argue with him occasionally.
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Just send them a screenshot of your driver’s licence or passport and that should probably work. I’ve never had an issue although I’ve been on it since 2007 (I am I think a bit younger than a lot are here so probably why I joined when I did as that is when all my friends joined but my Dad he just joined a few weeks ago and my Mom still is not on it). I believe they have rules against celebrity names but seems silly as many have them, but as some suggest you could just use initials or your middle name instead of last. Or abbrevate your name, CNN had a story about this girl in her 20s whose name is Hillary Clinton and was prevented so she used Hil Clinton.
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Er, I think Facebook would be the last place I’d send personal info to. Just sayin. 😉
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Thank you for your suggestions but like Joanne I’m not keen on giving anyone more information than necessary. Already I find it really irritating that the web gears ads to me personally depending on what items I may have looked for on The Bay or Sears sites, for example.
Perhaps I sound paranoid — or maybe I am — but I’m still wondering how they (FB) decided that I had not used my real name. The thought that they could actually check my IP number or use other means worries me.
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Heard a news clip saying the Public Service Unions are already starting on Brown…he’s going to cut X number of jobs. There should be a law preventing unions from meddling in politics. He will have to keep his head about him, not get side tracked and caught up in their game.
Rotters.
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After having watched a Rebel video (link follows), I’m grateful not to be a Carlton resident. No amount of nose-holding could make me vote for the PC candidate highlighted by David Menzies. Patrick Brown continues to disappoint me. Take a look: Ontario PCs run another non-conservative candidate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKUWeBh-8d4
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When Conservative leaders think they need to be Liberal light to win elections we have a problem. Brown is what we have to get rid of the arrogant, corrupt government of Kathleen Wynne. Queen’s Park needs new management, it’s a mess and it won’t happen by not voting or playing games in the voting booth….we have to support the Conservative leader chosen…warts and all. Liberals seem to manage to do that quite well.
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We also need to stop the infighting like we are seeing in an Ottawa riding over choice of candidate. Brown should not be handpicking either. The Liberals don’t need any help getting elected but this stuff is what they thrive on.
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I don’t think the Conservatives need to be Liberal lite but I do think they need to be moderate and my worry is some who use the term Liberal lite means to exclude anyone who is a former Progressive Conservative federally and taking that approach will ensure the Liberals will win next year. Essentially in Ontario, 30% will vote PC no matter what, 55% will never vote PC, and 15% are swing voters so it is the 15% swing voters who we should target our policies towards. Wynne is really an NDP premier pretending to be a Liberal so there is lots of room on the spectrum to separate us from her. Considering how hated Wynne is by those further to the right, I doubt many will stay home and even if they do every Liberal vote we pick up has twice the impact as each more right wing we lose. A person stays home, that is just one lost vote, but a Liberal vote picked up is not just an additional vote it is one less for the Liberals. Now yes the PCs should be conservative, but I would say moderately fiscally conservative like we will balance the budget, within the framework of the balanced budget we will give a modest tax cut, we will keep spending under control while still protecting frontline services. We should stay away from the social conservatism and likewise heavy slash and burn. We may need to make dramatic cuts but don’t run on them, rather once in power claim the books were worse than expected and then in the first two years make dramatic cuts and then increase spending in the final year to get re-elected.
To AnneSwON – I don’t think someone being formerly a Liberal should disqualify them, but I think we need to look at the reason. If their views have changed over time or if they are a Blue Liberal in the likes of say John Manley who feel the Wynne Liberals have swung too far to the left, absolutely we should welcome them. But if just an opportunist who is running under the PC banner as they think they have a better chance of winning their seat but whose positions are at odds with us than no. In the case of the Carleton candidate I would have to read up more on her views to make a judgment. I know she disliked Harper, but that alone shouldn’t disqualify her, after all Harper only got 35% in Ontario and we need to do a bit better than that. Likewise I can say on a personal note my family is 50/50 split with half being on the left and half the right, yet none of them liked Harper by 2015 so I think if we have a few, but not too many, who disliked Harper but are still conservative on most issues that is fine. Otherwise if she is a Joe Clark Red Tory or a John Manley type Blue Liberal then absolutely we should welcome her as a candidate, but if a Wynne/Trudeau tax and spend liberal just running out of opportunism than not.
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Miles, you state that, “We should stay away from (the) social conservatism”, while the other two main parties are increasingly intent on shoving their positions on social issues (eg. M103 and its Ontario partner; transgenderism and gender identity, to name only two) down our throats with the threat of exacting punishment should we balk. ‘Hate speech’ is now a thing, so politically correct have we become. Positions on social issues are only wrong if one is a social conservative. How far this country has fallen in the space of not quite two years. This is not the freedom loving land my family and I came to in the late 50’s, the land I’ve cherished and cherish still, the land which, with terrifying speed, looks to be moving toward emulating France and Sweden. I realize this leftward movement has been happening but I don’t have to like it.
Thank heavens my riding has conservative representatives federally and provincially. It makes voting sp much more palateable.
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My concern about us swinging leftward was more economic than social. On social conservatism, I think most want parties that are open to all groups and don’t discriminate against people due to race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc., but they don’t have to play identity politics like the left does, rather we judge each person individually.
On the economic front, it seems the Chretien consensus as the Fraser Institute dubbed it has fallen apart. Up until recently it used to be if you want to get elected you had to favour balanced budgets and you didn’t raise taxes, whereas as evidenced recently running on a platform of running deficits, raising taxes so long as it is on the rich and big corporations seems to be a winning one and IMHO that is not a good thing. I do feel much like the left today we as Conservatives got complacent and just assumed our positions were self-evident and never did much to make the case for them. It seems when certain ideas become winning ones often parties get complacent so hopefully there is a lesson to remember we never give up defending in what we believe in and making the case constantly even when winning. Likewise the left hasn’t yet talked about ripping up free trade agreements or re-nationalizing previously government owned industries, but it is important to keep an eye on this. Already NDP candidate Niki Ashton mentions nationalizing industries so lets hope her views remain on the fringe where they belong, but I think the near win of Corbyn across the pond should be a warning to go after those likes a lot harder and not just assume most will come to their senses. The older population who has seen how destructive such policies are will, but the millennials who weren’t around last time this was tried and are now the largest share of the electorate need to be persuaded how bad such policies are.
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No politician is perfect. And if you expect perfection you will be constantly disappointed.
To me the question is, do they have the good of the people at heart? Or are they most interested in furthering their own ambitions?
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Agreed.
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We know we have a celebrity Prime Minister…he is featured on the cover of Rolling Stone! What mre could we ask for?
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I am trying desperately to ignore it. 😉
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I think that an increasing number of conservative Ontarians are beginning to believe they’ve been sold a pig in a poke. Policies that won Mr. Brown the leadership are being discarded and candidate selection seems to be a top-down decision. It appears, to me at least, that the PC party has become more liberal-light than conservative. Let’s hope the leftward drift halts now.
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I think the leftward drift is more in response to the overall public leftward drift. I hate to say this, but it seems all parties are shifting leftward and if recent elections give any hints it feels the public is moving leftward. I don’t think Brown is to the left of Bill Davis, but definitely not as conservative as more recent conservative leaders. It seems our problem is generational as the silent generation is the most conservative and they are dying off so a much smaller share of the electorate than in the 90s, whereas the millennials who weren’t either born or old enough to vote are now the largest segment and they seem quite left wing unfortunately.
I see it as coming down to two choices.
1. Stay true to our principles and expect being in opposition for a long time and only come back to power when we reach a crisis point, otherwise Ontario becomes the next Greece.
2. Put a halt to the swing to the left, but gradually nudge the public slowly to the right realizing at first we will probably have to be fairly centrist until the pendulum starts to swing in our direction
Due to the damage Notley, Wynne, Trudeau, and probably soon Horgan are doing I am okay with centrist are someone similar to a Chretien/Martin Liberal. May not be ideal, but at least its not disastrous like the three above.
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Liberals have sneaky down to a tee. Say whatever it takes to get elected, right left or centre and do whatever you want when you gain power. Honesty and politics are not a winning team, Hudak found that out.
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Great discussion going on here! Thanks for all your opinions and thoughts. I will try to get a new post up within the next few days.
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I’m getting very concerned with people that say because their person didn’t win the leadership of the CPC, they will sit out the next election. That is just what will get the Liberals elected again. The CPC members that voted on any candidate are only a small number of who will vote in an election. Forget your person and let’s all come together.
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“That is just what will get the Liberals elected again.”
Yes. Basically it’s a form of self-imposed voter suppression. I really think we need an Anyone But Liberal perspective here. (Here meaning in this country working towards the next election.)
Ontario Proud, for example is doing a great job in that regard. Someone may have already mentioned that but it’s worth repeating.
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It would be nice if the business community stepped up to counter the unions. Unlike past Liberal leaders who were generally business friendly, Wynne most certainly is not. Some maybe fear boycotts but asides from a small number of social activists I don’t think they have to worry too much and hoping the Liberals will be more business friendly isn’t going to happen as long as Wynne as leader. Part of the reason in BC, the progressives have had a tougher time winning (note although we have an NDP government they limped across the line not a landslide like Wynne, Trudeau or Notley and a few hundred votes in the right riding the other way and we would have had a different government) is while the unions heavily back the NDP, the business community heavily backs the BC Liberals whereas in Ontario the business community is largely silent. In Alberta I think you will also see the business community work hard to defeat the NDP. They failed as last time as they were caught by surprise as it was only around 2 weeks before the election the idea of the NDP winning in Alberta even seemed plausible whereas in BC, the NDP has a strong base so every election there is always a chance they might win as asides from 2001, the pro free enterprise party (be it Social Credit or BC Liberals) rarely wins by much otherwise our elections are usually tight here, just usually tips towards the centre-right.
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Wynne is going to testify in the Sudbury bribery hearings…that should be interesting to say the least.
For the next election I think the Liberals are counting on support from the ‘what’s in it for me’ votes with all the handouts and no doubt there will be more. People don’t seem to zero in on the debt even though they are being hit with rising costs on everything we need to survive.
Let’s hope our Conservative leader can spell this out in plain language….explain the domino effect.
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Yes that should be interesting when Wynne has to testify.
Also heard today that Environment Minister Glen Murray is leaving. That tells me he’s not optimistic about the Liberal future under Wynne.
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Agreed, unfortunately, his seat is one we always do poorly in, but while in most by-elections I will cheer for the PCs, this one I will hope for the NDP, not because I like them but simply in downtown Toronto (I lived there until recently) it’s a Liberal-NDP race. Now I do think the PCs are in better shape in the GTA as a whole, but its more the suburbs particularly 905 belt as well as places like Etobicoke, Scarborough, and North York. Essentially any riding that went Conservative federally in 2011 is probably where we have our best chances and note Harper won 2/3 of the seats in Ontario that time. I suspect you will see a lot of others bail as well. While its not over by any means and I won’t be popping the champagne until June 7th/June 8th (I am probably going to be in Europe during the Ontario election so it will be the next morning when I find out who wins), I am fairly optimistic.
On the left-right balance thing, I feel quite optimistic about our chances in Ontario and Alberta. BC is too early to tell, while federally I feel it will be a much steeper hill to climb that being said if Trudeau wins a second term but has mostly conservative premiers rather than progressive to deal with that will be an improvement over what we have now. That being said as much I don’t like the progressive dominance in Canada, our progressives are less scary than in Britain. I would take any of our progressives over Jeremy Corbyn who is truly a rabid leftist and despite that still got 40% of the popular vote although thankfully fell short. Likewise in France, their left under Melenchon is even scarier although Macron is not quite as bad as he is fairly centrist.
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I’m hearing that Wynne’s not planning a byelection for Glen Murray’s riding; supposedly because the next election isn’t that far away. More than likely she also doesn’t want to take the chance of losing the seat to the NDP and having her whole team be demoralized.
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My understanding is a by-election must be called within six months of it being vacant so any resignation after the last week of October can be avoided since the writ will be dropped on the last week of April although technically any resignation after the third week of September can avoid a by-election since the by-election campaigns are usually five weeks meaning any by-election called after the third week of March will never happen thus whomever wins will be an MPP for a short period, but I don’t think she can dodge this one. Besides the re-distributed boundaries are much less friendly to the Liberals than the current ones so their chances are better in a by-election which uses the old boundaries vs. general which uses the new boundaries.
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The idea of merely voting AGAINST the Liberals in Ontario is frustrating to those looking for policies, social as well as economic, to vote FOR. There are more and more “GIMME” voters across our nation for whom more is never enough socially or economically.
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Would Murray’s resignation have anything to do with coal plants? Maybe he’s just not onto sticking around any job for long term.
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Check this out:
Probably saw a chance to jump ship and he grabbed it!
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Yes, not much doubt about it….much more secure than politics!
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According to Warren Kinsella’s page, mainstreet research has a poll out for the 416 area code showing the PC’s at 49% and Liberals at 31%. While the numbers for the PC’s sound a little too good to be true in the 416, if Wynne is trailing there she is in big trouble. Also tomorrow mainstreet research will have the first post merger poll out for Alberta so will be interesting to see how that has worked out so far.
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I just saw that poll for Toronto! Wow that is really encouraging!!
Half of Torontonians would vote PC in the next election, new poll suggests
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FWIW – The Alberta poll has the UCP at 57% and NDP at 29% so while not the sum of the parts as expected still a pretty large lead. The Alberta party jumped to 9% and I suspect them not the NDP is where the dissatisfied Red Tories will go and heck they might even pull away some centrist NDP voters too which in that case it ends up being a wash. Still I think its important the UCP not get too confident. Adrian Dix in BC and Theresa May across the pond both began their campaigns with 20 point leads and we saw how those turned out. Nonetheless looking at the comments sections in various papers it seems the Dippers are in full panic. Alberta maybe isn’t as conservative as 30 years ago, but it hasn’t swung over to being a left wing province. It is still fiscally conservative and socially progressive, otherwise live within your means but doesn’t care about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation otherwise let live types. And the NDP in Alberta with their reckless spending is anything but fiscally responsible. Many on the left claim the UCP will involve austerity and big spending cuts; my advice to them is if you hate austerity so much don’t spend like crazy and austerity won’t be needed. Austerity is sometimes needed because previous governments live beyond their means. Besides a 10% cut in salaries of public sector workers in Alberta would balance the budget and they would still be paid more than in neighbouring BC (at least for now).
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Caroline Mulroney is seeking a PC nomination!!
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Yes great news and despite being a daughter of a PM she has an impressive resume unlike Trudeau. Hope to see her in cabinet next year.
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Yes she is very accomplished in her own right.
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