Never a winning strategy to denigrate the President of the United States when NAFTA negotiations are at such a critical state – especially if you are the leader of Canada’s largest province.
Update: Great response from Doug Ford here regarding Liberal campaign co-chair David Herle’s inappropriate comments and ensuing “apology”.
Blue Like You2 
WOW!!! That takes the cake
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Can’t lose what you never had. But seriously, she has never evidenced the slightest concern for economic reality, but instead has virtue signaled every issue to the most politically correct current flavour of the day. I don’t believe she is capable of even basic understanding of economics.
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seems like she can say anything without challenge; did any of the reporter ask her for specific examples of Ford’s supposed bullying?
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Wynne, she’s really lost her mind. This is the worst of the worst in politics.
Wynne cannot change the channel by talking about Trump either.
How can anyone support that sad mess in this province?
I thing Ford saying he will have an outside audit of the books is what really blew her mind.
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I should read over comments before posting….*I “THINK” Ford etc, etc…
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No worries, Liz. Typos happen. 😉
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This auto correct is part of the problem. Auto correct changed the name of the person I was communicating with. Fortunately I noticed.
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I suspect the fact 50 days out she is going hysterical means their internal polls are quite bad. David Herle who ran the Liberal campaign in 2006 didn’t have Martin go this negative until around 2 weeks before the election. That being said both NDP and Liberals are running on very left wing platforms so I sure hope most in the province won’t go for it. Contrary to what some say on the left, socialism has never worked, even in Europe, social democratic parties are at all time lows in support not because they aren’t left wing enough as some claim, but rather because their policies failed miserably. The problem with socialism is it goes against human nature and ignores all laws of economics and instead tries to create some type of utopia not grounded in reality.
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Yes I suspect Wynne is desperate. Ford just needs to be careful he doesn’t say anything that can be used in headlines. He needs to look like a dignified Premier-in-Waiting.
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Comparing ford to Trump and calling him a bully is the end game for Wynne, she has nothing left but personal mud slinging, she cannot defend her record.
I hope Ford doesn’t bother even trying to grab onto any of her personal attacks, just laugh them off and stick to what really matters to the people, that will make her desperate remarks look even worse on her
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Now Wynne is saying Ford “traffics in smears and lies”! That’s really comical after her personal attack on Ford which was really that of a desperate politician tying into the last vestiges of nothing left to defend.
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“Pot calling the kettle black” WOW!
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Yes and she’s campaigning on our dime until the writ is dropped, promising more and more goodies we cannot afford up to that time.
I’m afraid I may have to tune this all out for my physical and mental well being, it’s not pretty to watch someone defend the indefensible when we are paying dearly to survive in our own homes.
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In other news, the SCC upheld the prohibition on bringing booze across provincial boundaries. A very outdated law and if the courts won’t strike it down, hopefully the provinces or feds will get rid of it. Anyways if I lived in Ottawa, I would still cross the bridge to Quebec to buy beer as its cheaper and more hours. The fine is small enough and chances of getting caught are low anyways.
Ford promised a corporate tax cut of 1%. While pretty small and doubt will have much impact, no doubt Wynne will try to place the class warfare. Unfortunately today it seems there is a lot of resentment towards those who are successful which I believe is hurting us. Yes we should have compassion towards those who are struggling, but I believe in bringing those up at the bottom not pulling those down at the top and unfortunately the left prefers the latter over the former.
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http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-ontarios-power-price-crisis-how-it-happened-and-who-got-hurt
Here is the money line in the linked article – In 2016, large industrial users in Toronto paid almost three times more than consumers in Montreal and Calgary and almost twice the prices paid by large consumers in Vancouver.
Or – how we lost 500,000 manufacturing jobs in Ontario. Ford needs to hit these facts every day. Also in the article, home consumers pay almost double the average in Canada.
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Ford responds. https://twitter.com/fordnation/status/987040982024667136?s=20
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This is telling it like it is from @MaximeBernier:
“We can’t go from one province to another with alcohol.
We can’t send oil across provincial borders.
But illegal migrants can cross our national borders without problem.
And we’re busy signing free trade agreements with the whole world.
What’s wrong with this picture?”
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Everything!
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David Herle while on TV just referred to Ford as a “dick”. Talk about going low, but it seems the Liberals are desperate now. In terms of popularity, I actually see the election having some parallels to the 1993 federal election and 2001 BC election and we all know how both turned out. The main thing is the PCs need to stay above 40% since if the Liberals collapse a lot will go over to the NDP who don’t have the baggage the Liberals have.
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The Liberal ads against Ford are beyond the pale, they are without foundation and entirely false. They have to think we are beyond dumb.
They are really going to put themselves out o the game with their desperation. I predict they could end up without party status.
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Lets remember the guru behind these is the same guy behind this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unNZtCH9Mdo . Off course this backfired badly, but don’t be surprised if they run some desperate one this time especially since third party advertising is more restricted.
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So…David Axelrod, an influential Democrat from the Obama administration, comes to Canada to give guidance to the Trudeau Liberals at their convention and the press praises him and touts his credentials to the highest heavens. Isn’t it wonderful for one of Obama’s right hand men to offer his advice and support to O’s acolyte, Trudeau? Not one of them has complained of American interference and influence that I have seen. Juxtapose that with how just the suspicion of any republican influence of the CPC, without evidence, would have been discussed and disparaged ad nauseam. Oh, just a minute, that already happened, didn’t it?
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Wynne and company have nothing to defend,they’re overdrawn on capital and now stooping to pick up sticks and stones, It’s pretty bad when one of the better known Liberal operatives has to apologize for less than savory name calling.
They really are losing their minds, it looks good on them. People standing in front of a crowd calling their opponents names is not a pretty sight, it’s the end.
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Quid pro quo? Surely not! But it does call into question the legitimacy of the fact that Kathleen Wynne’s campaign manager, David Herle (he of the foul mouth), heads the Gandalf Group which was at the receiving end of almost $3,000,000 of taxpayer money in polling contracts. This reminder comes from Lorrie Goldstein. Close little clique those Libs, n’est-ce pas? https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/09/23/tories-cry-foul-over-award-of-ontario-polling-contracts.html
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Take a gander at the exposure laid on Herle by Brian Lilley here: http://brianlilley.com/wynnes-campaign-manager-calls-doug-ford-a-dick-on-tv-here-is-what-you-know-about-him/
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Another nail in the coffin for Wynne. Her BFF Trudeau has now stated that he wants to let the overwhelming number of ‘refugees’ (who are not in fact refugees since they are already in the US), relocate to Ontario if that is ‘their preference’. No word if any Canadian was ever asked what their preference might be.
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I have to wonder whether Trudeau truly understands what his job actually entails. Hey but if there’s one thing we know about in Ontario it’s how Liberal governments force their decisions on unsuspecting jurisdictions. Just ask any one of the municipalities facing hundreds of wind turbines cluttering their landscapes, killing their wildlife and messing with their water systems.
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Here’s something else that Kathleen Wynne’s government hopes folks will be swept under the rug.
http://www.nugget.ca/2018/04/21/new-rule-a-message-to-businesses-that-theyre-not-trusted-by-premier-kathleen-wynne-and-her-government-fedeli-says
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Ontario voters also need to be reminded that the McGuinty-Wynne cabal of destroyers is now happily ensconced in Trudeau’s PMO already hard at work inflicting the same business- and soul-destroying policies on the whole of Canada that they implemented in our hapless province.
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Justin Trudeau sure went after the Tories hard. I realize attacks on opponents are fair game, after all we all do it, but the fact he spent more time attacking them rather than defending his own record suggests he has accomplished little and also his poll numbers must not be very good.
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Sounds a lot like Wynne.
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Well the two are very similar philosophically. Both are Liberals who act more like NDP leaders than Liberals. Heck I would place both Wynne and Trudeau to the left of Notley and Horgan on the political spectrum so that says a lot. Also might be why their numbers are faltering as people don’t elect the NDP very often since they are too left wing and when both initially won, most assumed they would be more centrist, but are now catching on they are not.
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Good point. The Liberal party of a decade ago doesn’t exist. Instead it’s a fight with the NDP to see which can go further left than the other. I don’t see a winning formula in that battle except there may be some funding in it from foreign sources.
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Could a merger of the left be in Trudeau’s plans? There’s not much daylight between them. And Jagmeet Singh is all but invisible.
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I think there is this view out there that Canada is a left wing country and the further left you go the better you do. I think this is a bit misguided. Yes relative to other countries, we are regrettably one of the more left wing countries, but that doesn’t mean most want a left wing government. In the downtown cores of large cities maybe, but that is only a small part of our population not most of it and trying to pander to that group (I’ve lived most of my life in these areas so understand their viewpoints well) is not how to win nationally. Their goal is to drive the NDP vote down and they may, but they could also push many Red Tories who feel the Tories are too right wing over to them as well as many Blue Liberals. Unlike many here I am more of a Red Tory, yet Trudeau and Wynne’s strong leftward shift means the Liberals are a non-option for me and for whatever misgivings I have with Scheer and Ford, both would be infinitely better than Wynne or Trudeau. Also some maybe want to be the opposite of Trump, but as unpopular as Trump is in Canada, I don’t think going to the other extreme is the solution, if anything being moderate is how you win not hard left. Trying to be like Corbyn or Sanders (which Wynne and Trudeau are) is not the way to go. Now not all Liberal parties across Canada have swung leftward. BC Liberals and Quebec Liberals are both centre-right and I would no trouble voting for Andrew Wilkinson in BC or Philippe Couillard in Quebec, The Yukon, PEI, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland Liberals are more like the federal Liberals were 10 years ago. Not my ideal, but I could live with them. It’s really in Ontario, New Brunswick, and federally they’ve ditched the centre and moved into NDP territory.
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I think a merger is possible as Trudeau seems quite autocratic, but he should be careful what he wishes for. A merger while on the surface may seem like a ticket to permanent progressive governments won’t necessarily work out that way. Most Canadians may be left wing, but most also want positive results and once they see the damage socialist policies cause I suspect many will turn away from it. It’s easy to be for an ideology you’ve never experienced and think the grass is greener on the other side, its quite another thing once you’ve seen it. There is a reason social democracy is in crisis in Europe; most Europeans have seen it and realize it doesn’t work so they are turning away from it massively.
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Either there are rules about incumbents campaigning on our dime before the writ is dropped or there are not. If there are Wynne should be called to account, she is doing just that.
It doesn’t seem to be helping according to polls, Liberals may lose party status. This is the message Ontario voters need to send this time and let’s hope that happens. Ontario went from food basket to a basket case of debt and corruption type activity, voting for that does not look good on the people of this province.
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I am hoping that after the Liberals lose in June (which is looking more and more likely) their next leader is someone closer to the centre. Not that I would endorse the Liberals in 2022, far from it, but its always good to have some insurance that if the PCs due become unpopular the replacement won’t destroy the province. The NDP is too left wing and cannot be made more centrist, but the Liberals can. Hopefully the PCs win and do a good enough job that we don’t have to worry about the Liberals for another decade, but I do hope a defeat of Wynne and hopefully Trudeau will send a strong message to the Liberals to move back to the centre and stop trying to mimic the NDP. There is a reason the NDP outside Saskatchewan and Manitoba rarely wins elections; they are too left wing for most. Even in Europe where social democracy has a long history, the past 15 years have not been good for those parties and each election round is seeing them sink further with no end in sight so that should be a forewarning from those who have seen social democracy first hand it doesn’t work.
As for Notley and Horgan being more centrist than Trudeau or Wynne, I suspect their circumstances have forced them to be. In the case of Notley she was every bit as left wing as Trudeau and Wynne until the merger as one can get 1/3 of the vote on a left wing platform in Alberta, one cannot get 45% on such a platform so I think the merger forced her to moderate, but probably not enough to win in 2019. For Horgan, he is on the pipeline quite left wing, but on issues like the minimum wage or tax hikes on the rich is more moderate than Wynne. I suspect the fact he won fewer votes and seats than the BC Liberals despite their 16 years in power probably played a role. Normally a party in power as long as the BC Liberals loses badly, not comes within 150 votes of winning another majority thus the BC NDP has little room for error or they are toast. My guess is if the PR referendum this fall passes, Horgan will tack further leftward as 57% voted for parties on the left, while will tack towards the centre if it is defeated.
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I used to like watching Question Period but it would be so much better if the PM wasn’t there blaming everything on Stephen Harper. It gets very sickening and I hope the former PM will charge him with libel very soon.
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That seems typical for a government that cannot run on its record, blame its predecessor. If the Liberals were doing a good job, they wouldn’t have to bring Stephen Harper up, but the fact they do shows they have little to show in achievements.
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Exactly right Miles, you nailed it.
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Well, did we see an example of Trudeau’s “diversity is our strength” with the terrorist attack in Toronto today? I have never felt more unsafe in this country. Ralph Goodale does not allay my fears no matter how much he bobs his head.
It’s a crazy, dangerous world, with one common denominator. Our ancestors could never have imagined this stuff ever happening here.
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From NEWSTALK1010 Verified account @NEWSTALK1010: “Former NYC police commissioner Bill Bratton tells @MSNBC that HIS sources in Canada have told him, that the suspect arrested in the van incident, was know(sic) to police and says this is now a terrorism investigation. RCMP won’t comment at this time.” Is this another Lone Wolf = Known Wolf?
On another note, there is what I consider an excellent rebuttal to the trite phrase “Diversity is our strength” here – https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2017/10/21/diversity-is-a-weakness-not-a-strength-n2398285 Granted, it’s one man’s opinion but it makes a great deal of sense.
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Yesterday was absolutely horrific. Hard to listen to many of those witnesses’ accounts of what they saw.
I’m not seeing a whole lot of collaboration so far for the terrorist motive so far. But it’s still early. The suspect obviously has huge issues. Time will tell.
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Looks like it was more a mentally disturbed person although interesting who chose the tactic often used by jihadist even though it appears it was personal issues that drove him to do this. Based on his surname, I don’t think he is Muslim as he has an Armenian surname and they are mostly Christian despite their proximity to the Middle East. The reality is you will always get mentally disturbed people who do awful things. In some ways this is more akin to the mass shootings you see frequently in the US, but since guns that can fire off a lot of rounds in seconds are tough to obtain in Canada, could be why he chose the method he did. We will find out in time. I think also the officer who de-escalated it needs to be commended too
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Mentally disturbed but how is disturbed defined? I’d call anyone who can terrorize and kill innocent people disturbed but are also capable of such horrendous, deliberate acts because they are obsessed with an issue.
Running down people with a van is the method used by terrorists in Europe in the recent past so is this a coincidence or copycat?
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An interesting read from Germany’s experience with wind power. We probably aren’t far behind them. http://notrickszone.com/2018/04/24/germanys-wind-energy-mess-as-subsidies-expire-thousands-of-turbines-to-shut-down-environmental-nightmare/#comments
The bottom line is that after 20 years when subsidies for wind run out, they generally can’t even maintain them at real energy prices so they are abandoned. The oldest turbines are 3MW at most so they don’t generate much income at wholesale, so if you need to replace a bearing at $1M+++ what do you do? I doubt Dalton was smart enough to have dismantling in the contracts, so we are stuck with an environmental disaster in the near future, thanks Butts.
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Too many disturbed individuals out there?? I think, as a society, we need to focus on what brings individuals to the negative states of mind that evolve. Focus on the individual in society and see where the problems begin. The breakdown of the traditional family does not help the situation. Too many young children with difficulties are not receiving the attention and help they need. We see it in our homes and schools. Not receiving help only leads to larger problems down the road. For example, students arriving in high school with obvious issues, some hidden, that should have been dealt with in elementary school or even back to the home and early childhood. Support for the family is lacking in our society. Just thinking out loud.
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More background here on the suspect. Really strange stuff.
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Ontario auditor general is saying we are looking at a $11.7 billion deficit, not $6.7 billion. I still think Ford should bring out a fully costed platform, but should mention promises will be only done as finances permit thus some might be delayed. It seems what the Liberals do well, spend like drunken sailors so when the Tories get in, they have to make unpopular cuts and don’t last long in power then the Liberals come back and spend like crazy again. Hopefully in 43 days we can put an end to this madness.
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Hopefully is right! Only those living in a bubble could not know what’s going on with the Wynne government. Information is all over the media, no excuses for not being informed.
We even have with the AG report what amounts to exposing more lies from Wynne and company.
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Turns out that some of the protesters against the Kinder Morgan Pipeline were from the summer jobs grant program thus subsidized by taxpayers. Trudeau’s excuse it is free speech, but if against abortion suddenly it is not allowed, so talk about being a hypocrite. My personal view is job’s whose primary purpose is political advocacy should not have access to the summer jobs grant regardless of the issue or stance, but what the personal view is of those employing the summer students is irrelevant (those who simply opposed abortion even if unrelated were denied grants).
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Well, wonder how soon Wynne and her illustrious Finance Minister will be fobbing off the AG?
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Soon if not already. Interestingly enough, Charles Sousa might have a fight on his hands as his seat is a bellwether one meaning if the Liberals get turfed from office (which is looking likely, but still not 100% certain yet) he will likely go down in defeat. In terms of Wynne that is a tougher one to predict. It’s usually one of the stronger PC seats in the 416 thus meaning she should be vulnerable, but municipally Doug Ford got slaughtered here as it went heavily for John Tory, so she might hold hers, but I suspect if she is no longer premier, there will be a by-election very soon after.
At this point I am actually more worried about the NDP than Liberals. Yes the NDP maybe in third in the polls, but they have more room for growth than the Liberals. The anger towards the Liberals in Ontario is comparable to the federal Liberals in 1984, federal PCs in 1993, and BC NDP in 2001 and all three got slaughtered at the polls. Even Harper in 2015 was still way more popular than Wynne is now.
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Wouldn’t it favour the PCs for the NDP to be strong enough to pull votes from the left? I mean what’s wrong with Andrea Horwath as Leader of the Official Opposition?
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That’s my take Joanne.
Your headline for this thread asks if Kathleen Wynne has lost her mind, at this point I’d be thinking most of the voters would have to lose their minds to consider voting to return her to power. I can only think of their arrogance, corruption and the debt they have placed on the people and future generations of this province.
It costs what used to be a small fortune to keep a normal household running, if that doesn’t wake people up nothing will.
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“At this point I’d be thinking most of the voters would have to lose their minds to consider voting to return her to power. “
Totally agree, Liz. But Wynne is desperate. No telling what she’ll do to try to hang onto power.
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If that is all that happens, that is good news and I am fine with Howarth being official opposition leader. My worry is more a surge similar to Alberta 2015 occurring meaning the NDP winning outright. I don’t think it is very likely, but I think premier Howarth is more likely than premier Wynne, although premier Ford still the most likely. Thus why I hope the PCs have a plan B in case an NDP surge happens so they can beat them back. Liberals basically are down to their core and have little room to grow. PCs don’t have a lot of room to grow either, but unlike the other parties they just need to hold what they have now as they are clearly in majority territory.
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Yes I certainly wouldn’t want to see Premier Horwath either, but Wynne has to go. No question.
All Doug Ford needs to do is not mess up. Keep looking like the Premier-in-waiting. And it would be good to see Elliott and Mulroney in photo-ops with him!
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joannebly – Fully agree on that. I’ve noticed both Mulroney and Elliott have shown up at several campaign office openings which is good. Mulroney is running in a very safe seat while Elliott’s is held by the Liberals both provincially and federally, it is a low hanging fruit so I suspect unless numbers tighten dramatically she should win it. So both can come to other campaign events but at the same time need to make sure they tend to their own ridings too.
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Good points, Miles. Above all they need to secure their own seats.
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Wynne and Sousa are still fobbing off the AG, they disagree with her method of accounting. After all she’s got her degree in accounting and she could tell them a thing or two about hydro too.
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Ford has promised a fully costed platform but also an independent audit. He stated the budget would not be balanced in the first year and considering the mess the Liberals have left I agree it will be tough. At least with the PCs we should be able to get a balanced budget before 2022 which we won’t with either the NDP or Liberals.
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The Liberals are still running a lying ad against Ford. He’ll denying women the right to choose included. Where did that come from?
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They’re desperate Liz. They’re throwing every thing they have at the wall in hopes it will stick.
This article by Randall Denley is bang-on as to why the Liberals are falling into exactly the trap set by the PCs. I agree 100% with Denley. http://nationalpost.com/news/world/londoners-warned-of-health-threat-from-toxic-caterpillars?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1525009832
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You sure that’s the right link, Cara?
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I think Cara means this link: http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/denley-how-the-liberals-are-playing-right-into-doug-fords-hands
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Yes, sorry about that link. Imagine me confusing toxic caterpillars with politicians 🙂
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Ha-ha. Well there could possibly be a connection…
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Wynne is still running around making announcements. There’s really only one question reporters need ask, who is going to be paying for the cost of all the stuff she’s tossing out?
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Two new announcements out today by Ford.
1. Pledges to match federal funding on mental health of $1.9 billion over 10 years. This seems like a good one along with the childcare pledge and neither has a very high price tag.
2. Changes to the greenbelt. He promises he won’t reduce the total size of the greenbelt, but will allow development in certain sections while adding others in replacement. While a good idea to reduce housing prices, this might not go over well in the 905 belt. In communities like King, Whitchurch-Stouffville, and Uxbridge, many like the small town rural feel to it and probably want to keep it that way rather than another sprawling suburb so could hurt him amongst voters there. But probably not as fatal as the Liberals were hoping for.
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I will admit the coverage on Ford’s comments on the greenbelt are not going over well. I hope this is not the moment that costs us another election. The good news is there is a way out so my suggestions are as follows:
1. Forests, wetlands, and other protected areas will not be touched.
2. Used farmland won’t be either
3. Only used farmland will be open for consideration and only if the municipality it is located in asks to have it re-zoned.
A better solution to bring housing prices down is to develop in the white belt which is agricultural land outside the Greenbelt. Also I am no fan of suburban sprawl and don’t think expanding the GTA outwards further is the solution. I believe densification in terms of more high rises is a better solution to increase housing supply and thus make things more affordable. Expanding the suburbs out further just leads to more congestion which we don’t need. Likewise perhaps with Go Train development, encourage more to live in communities beyond the GTA such as Kitchener-Waterloo, Barrie, and St. Catherines is another solution. I would hate to see the PCs blow another election, especially since we haven’t had things this favourable for us in a long time.
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Yeah when I heard Ford talk about the greenbelt idea, I cringed. This will definitely be used against him.
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Same here. He needs to find a way to get this off the table and fast. We have a big lead in the 905 belt now, but this is something that could hurt us there. I realize this was before he was elected leader, but he needs to be careful before he speaks and that has always been my worry with him is that he mouths off stupid things. And unlike Trump, I am not sure in Ontario it necessarily works or at least we cannot take any risk no matter how small of letting the Liberals get back in or the NDP win.
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Oh Ford said that before he was elected leader?
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Yes and good news, he just backed off it and promised not to touch the Greenbelt. Yes it may be temporarily damaging, but by killing the issue today it will be forgotten by election day. That was the right move.
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Good to hear that Miles. Thanks.
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Why bother dropping a writ period when Wynne is already out promising goodies on our dime while informing us, in her sweetest childlike voice, there are no guarantees with what Ford promises.
Sorry Madam,we can’t afford to buy any more of your promised goodies, for anyone trying to run a household in Ontariowe that should be crystal clear.
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In other news, sad news today, Conservative MP Gord Brown died suddenly this morning of a heart attack.
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Wow! Very sad indeed. And only 57 years old.
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Looks like the budget is much worse than thought https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-deficit-will-jump-to-almost-12-billion-in-2018-fao-2/ . Hopefully this kills any chance of voting NDP who just promise more spending. I will admit I expect if Ford wins, he is going to have to make some very unpopular decisions. My advice would be to do them in the first two years. Also perhaps they should use the Drummond Report as a template and make a few minor adjustments. On tax cuts, I would suggest he stick with the minimum wage one but for the corporate tax cut defer it until the budget is balanced but once balanced proceed. Also since we don’t know how bad things are, promise to balance the budget by keeping spending increases 1% below inflation + population growth + economic growth except in the case of a recession. Once the budget is balanced, 1/3 towards tax cuts, 1/3 towards targeted spending, and 1/3 towards debt repayment.
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I can’t wait to hear Catherine McKenna take our elitist PM to task over his expanding “carbon usage” AKA “carbon footprint” by having his family’s meals prepared at then transported from Sussex Drive to Rideau Hall. Sure beats pizza delivery! All it took was an order-in-council in October 2017. Why didn’t this happen when David Johnston was GG? Why wait until Julie Payette took over in September 2017? Do you suppose Mr. Johnston would have advised against such an aristocratic display of entitlement?
Definition: “Order-in-council, at the federal level, is an order of the GOVERNOR GENERAL by and with the advice and consent of the Queen’s PRIVY COUNCIL for Canada. In fact, it is formulated by CABINET or a committee of Cabinet and formally approved by the governor general. Some orders simply make appointments.”
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It’s long past time for the residence of the Prime Minister to be renovated or replaced. It’s not the property of prime ministers, it belongs to Canada. Why it has become a political thing is just stupid. It’s our tradition to have a residence for whoever happens to be elected to the Office of Prime Minister.
We have 24 Sussex, Britain has 10 Downing.
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Budget? What Budget? Wynne and company are still tossing out the bucks.
Latest is $300 G’s help production of marijuana beer.
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LIBERAL Mayor of Ottawa , Jim Watson is in municipal election mode as well as provincial stating the expansion of light rail in Ottawa depends on Liberals being re-elected.
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By the way, the messenger/courier wasn’t hired until after the order-in-council but we are told his salary of approx. $40,000 presents no incremental cost to the government/taxpayers. How can that be possible? Miles, help me out here. What does Sophie do all day? She has two nannies, a cook, a housekeeper and a food delivery service. I’d call that living in the lap of luxury while we are the ones who are encouraged to change our behaviour via submitting to a punishing carbon tax. This is the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. Living at 24 Sussex is out of the question for the Trudeaus but it’s certainly AOK for their food to be prepared there then shipped to them via someone whose only job so far as we know is just food delivery.
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As for Sophie Trudeau, not sure what she does all day. I know in the US the first lady plays a significant role and I believe is covered so maybe Trudeau trying to copy that, but in Canada we don’t have a history of that. Also US has a presidential system, we have a parliamentary and in other parliamentary democracies usually the prime-ministers wife plays a similar role to what ours has historically. First lady in the US is more akin to the French first lady (France is also a presidential system).
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First ads out for PCs and NDP. PCs largely positive which as frontrunner probably seems wise and considering Ford is seen as rough around the edge by some, not a bad idea. In particular he does well amongst male voters but struggles with female voters so anything to soften things up amongst female voters help. NDP ad showing the dodge ball is quite clever and although the idea of an NDP government is terrifying, they are doing all the right things. Their problem is more they only have 34 days so if a surge doesn’t happen soon they are probably out of it. Liberals is all just negativity as that is all they have. Realistically at this point, I cannot see the Liberals being the largest party. The only possible way I could say Wynne still being premier come July 1st (note I choose that date as usually it takes 2-3 weeks for a transition to a new government so Wynne would be premier for at least a few weeks even if she loses; for comparison Harper lost on October 19, 2015, but remained PM until November 5, 2015) is if Liberals form the official opposition and the PCs only win a plurality of seats and Wynne is able to get Horwarth to prop her up much like we have in BC. That being said if the NDP does this, they will likely pay big time next election mind you they will pay big time if they prop up Ford too so a minority government is a death sentence for whichever party comes in third.
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Interesting analysis, Miles. Yes the best scenario by far is a strong PC government for stability.
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I’m seeing a lot of tweets from a doctors group very critical of the liberals, and accusing the OMA of being complicit with the liberals. I doubt just twitter will be too influential but it’s something
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I’ve been seeing that as well. Some doctors are very vocal on Twitter and could be influential.
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Doctors were also very energized against Trudeau and Morneau’s tax changes recently. Hopefully if this becomes a well organized group it will help in 2019 as well.
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Oh yes. And small businesses in general!
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I cannot even imagine the Liberals of this province being returned to office. If they are I give up to the point of not bothering to even vote next time around. If we have that many out of touch, uninformed or what’s-in-it-for-me people this province is lost for decades to come.
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Catch the wave. It’s shaping up to be a big blue one………..so far.
http://toronto.citynews.ca/video/2018/05/03/forum-research-poll-has-conservatives-dominating-in-416-ridings/
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Ford has just dumped Tanya Granic Allen as a candidate. While a risky move, I believe it was the right one. She has provided way too much ammo for the Liberals to lose so better to get rid of her as the riding she is running in is a swing one and while choosing a candidate this late might hurt our chances a bit, it’s one riding whereas she could have cost us many ridings.
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Yes not sure exactly what precipitated that but she certainly was never discrete in her opinions.
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A little background here: http://www.570news.com/2018/05/05/controversial-candidate-tanya-granic-allen-dropped-from-ont-tory-roster/
I have mixed feelings about this, but it is a pragmatic move I guess.
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Scoreboard: Wynne – 1, Ford – 0. Ford won the leadership only as a result of Granic Allen’s supporters transferring their votes to him and this is how they and she are thanked? What a disappointing and cowardly act. I wonder how Christine Elliot feels now? Who’s next on the chopping block?
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Yeah the optics are terrible no matter what.
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A lot of PC supporters will likely just stay home now.
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I think Ford made the right choice. Keeping her on would have just frightened off the moderate swing voters and there are a lot more of them than social conservatives. Yes some social conservatives may stay home, but I actually think there are a lot fewer of them than some realize. They may be loud and noisy but I don’t think those who have it as their number one election issue are large. Even most who are social conservatives, if you ask them to list their top 3 issues, it’s not likely to be in the top 3. Things like affordability, taxes, health care, economy, desire for change, accountability are the types of issues people care most about and what will drive how people vote. That is where are focus should be and so far that seems to be where Ford is putting his focus which is a good thing.
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That may all be true but the fact remains that the PC party knew all about Tanya Granic Allen’s positions on the sex ed curriculum and LGBTQ issues before she was cleared to run for a seat in the legislature. Ford’s capitulation at this juncture shows weakness and demonstrates one very salient fact to Granic Allen and Elliot supporters: She. Was. Used. And when there was a possibility that her usefulness was over she was unceremoniously turfed sans discussion. The Ontario Liberals are not finished. https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2018/05/06/liberals-ask-elections-ontario-to-investigate-doug-fords-campaign-videos/#.Wu9ROZoh1y1
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That’s exactly how the Liberals will play this Anne. They’ll claim deep divisions and point to a party still not together. It may not work this time though because the dislike of Wynne in this province is so great that this may not budge the results.
There’s also something to be said when a leader comes out against intolerance and hatred that they act on that. Ford would have been wiser to do it BEFORE rather than AFTER using Allen to gain the leadership.
I think though that there are more applauding Ford’s move that not………as Miles has spoken of earlier.
As for the Liberals investigating Ford’s campaign videos. Really? The Wynne Liberals are masters of this same time of manipulation. Let them investigate.
My greatest fear is that Andrea Horwath does what it takes in her cutesy ways to come up quietly through the middle, unchallenged by a media who are hung up on the PC/Lib. fight. The NDP are getting away with a ton.
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This is a tough one but IMO he should have left her in. She is one candidate, she doesn’t make party policy no matter what her ideas or beliefs.
Again, it looks like PC’s are running scared, can’t allow differing opinions because the Liberals and NDP will make a fuss and it will get too much media coverage….that’s a guarantee of course.
We really do not want a fight over social issues, we have too many other issues that affect our everyday lives that would be left out and that would be right up Wynne’s alley.
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It’s a no-win situation and therefore I am probably in agreement that he should have just let her run. Oh well. Now we’ll have to see what happens.
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I think it’s classic a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.
Granic Allen is a real mouthpiece with strong views, party would be secondary. She will not fade quietly into the night and will certainly be much sought after by Liberal media.
We all know the Liberals would not accept her views, neither would the NDP….let’s think about that and who can defend her.
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I think if free votes in the legislature were the norm it would be less of an issue, but because they aren’t that is why there is less tolerance of those with different viewpoints. In the UK, you get loonies running in both parties but because they don’t have the party discipline that we do, its less of an issue. Otherwise this goes more down to party discipline and even if Ford does move towards freer votes it will take time for the public to become used to it. At that point then it will be less of an issue. Besides her replacement, Natalia Kusendova has a much more impressive resume than does Granic Allen. She is a nurse and with health care being a top priority that Ford wants to fix I think having people with a health care background is an asset.
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Good points Miles. I think you’ve hit the nail. The other issue is that Allen was running in a HUGE riding in the GTA that Ford needs to win. On the other hand, there’s something creepy, dare I say Patrick Brown-like in his actions.
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It took 2 whole weeks for Doug Ford to decide to throw her under the bus. From an April 21 CTV News article: “Liberal campaign co-chair Deb Matthews said on CP24 Saturday that the Liberals would not accept someone who made statements like hers as a candidate.
“Her views, through social media, are homophobic, Islamophobic, she’s got extreme views on things like sex ed and abortion,” Matthews said.”
From the same April 21 article: “Party spokesperson Melanie Paradis said Saturday that Granic Allen’s comments “do not reflect what we stand for.”
“They were made some time ago, and prior to this individual being a candidate.” https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/failed-pc-leadership-contestant-granic-allen-wins-nomination-in-mississauga-1.3896475
What has happened here is a betrayal of the only candidate to stand beside Ford as he made his first speech as PC leader. It’s been estimated that 80% of her supporters went to him. He also stands to lose some some portion of the 80,000 votes of the people from the advocacy group Parents as First Educators which she led for a time. That’s a very risky move.
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Warren Kinsella tweeted today that the party was hoping and thought she would lose her nomination so if that happened they could avoid having to anger either side, but once she won it, then it became a problem although surprised they didn’t act quicker or the nominating committee still greenlighted her. As for lost votes, yes it will cost some, but keeping her on would have cost far more votes. To make matters worse those who would have been turned off would have gone over to the NDP or Liberals who do pose a threat to us whereas the others will either stay home or go to the Trilium so each side has its risk, but the risk of letting her stay on was a lot greater.
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Kinsella also said that he believed that Ford did the right thing and he should be congratulated not vilified.
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Had some small bit of fun this morning. I was on a news website and saw an anti Doug Ford google ad from ‘Working Families’. So I carefully clicked on the ‘x’ on the top right corner to close the ad. 4 boxes then appeared, which I had not seen before. Google was asking me why I closed the ad.
1. Not interested
2. Seen the ad too many times
3. Inappropriate content
4. Doesn’t apply to me
So I clicked on Inappropriate content.
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The debate is tonight, not sure what to expect but Wynne hasn’t much capital left. She might get mean and nasty.
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Mean and nasty is all they have left. Although I have to wonder about the brain trust of the PCs too these days. My local riding assn. PC chat forum is dead. Should it be?
Hearing of notes, calls, message to PC MPPs not being returned.
Kind of a mess all around. I’d like to be hopeful but……………I feel conservatives have been on a very long and uncomfortable ride. Will it improve IF Ford is elected? Who really knows?
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Please, please, please let this be true and possible.
http://business.financialpost.com/opinion/lawrence-solomon-how-doug-ford-can-end-ontarios-suffering-from-expensive-electricity-instantly
Solomon believes we can legally get out of the solar and wind contracts immediately.
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I hope he’s right!
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Did anyone watch the Ontario debate last night?
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Yes. It was one of the worst set-ups and poorly moderated events I’ve seen in quiet a while. Ford did what he needed to (Star is favourable to him this morning), Andrea kept interrupting the others trying to get a word in edge wise as Doug and Kathleen squared off. Wynne tanked. On several occasions Wynne used her body language to pretty much shut-out Andrea from the discussions. https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/onvotes/poll-tracker/
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Oh that poll-tracker link is a great site! Very cool.
Yeah the debate format itself was very unimpressive but it was interesting to see how Doug Ford would do in that type of forum. I thought he did pretty well considering it was his first such debate and the other two are well experienced.
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I din’t watch but I’ve heard that he did well also. I would think all he needed to do was avoid disaster to keep the lead.
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I didn’t watch, don’t care how they debated either, it will not change my mind anyway. Ontario needs to get rid of the Wynne government, for the survival of this province and the people trying to survive in it.
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My opinion of last night’s debate? It was pretty much Toronto, Toronto, Toronto! Isn’t there more to Ontario than Toronto? Btw, we haven’t heard from Gabby in quite some time – I hope everything’s OK with her.
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Thanks for asking, Anne in swON. I’ve been having some health issues as well as computer problems (now mostly solved) so I’ve only been dropping in occasionally to read comments.
I don’t want to sidetrack your lively discussions about the upcoming ON election. However, I would be interested in hearing readers’ & commenters’ views on the current federal NDP problems (allegations re: harassment).
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Haven’t followed them much, when you have a third party that seems irrelevant I tend to not pay too much detail. Now if it were the Ontario NDP I would pay more attention as I actually regrettably do believe they have a shot at winning this June (albeit not likely thankfully, but still possible). I know its not until the fall, but I would be interested in your take on Quebec politics. It seems like in Quebec unlike most provinces its a battle between two fiscally conservative leaders (PLQ under Couillard and CAQ under Legault) so should be interesting. Wish we had that in Ontario or out here on the West Coast in BC, but sadly don’t.
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The first case seems odd. Being kicked out and accused for ‘not getting non verbal signals that he was standing too close or talking too long’. The second case is interesting in that a female MP is in trouble. Her accuser would have stayed quiet it seems if not for the hypocrisy the MP showed in attacking her colleague in the first case.
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Hi Gabby! Glad to hear from you. I was thinking about you when Andrew Scheer was on Tout le Monde en Parle. Did you happen to see it? I thought he did pretty well all considered.
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BTW Gabby, I hope you start feeling better soon.
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There was an interesting discussion on the CBC with Carole MacNeil featuring Muneeza Sheikh, an employment and labour lawyer, and Barbara Kay, a National Post columnist. I’ve tried and failed to find a video clip. The upshot for me was: People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. We know very little about the accusations levelled against Erin Weir other than that he failed to read social cues yet, strangely, he was determined to be guilty of sexual harassment. Christine Moore, on the other hand, appears to have used her position of power to approach a man with PTSD to initiate an actual sexual relationship. If that is proven to be the case she needs to be turfed from caucus. What’s sauce for the goose…
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The NDP are treading water and trying hard to stay relevant. They’re cooked in Quebec. Not likely to rebound anytime soon thanks to their other distractions.
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On the debate, I think Ford did what he needed to do and mainstreet poll if you believe that bears it out. He didn’t win over anyone, but didn’t lose anyone and it is the latter that mattered. My worry though as mentioned earlier is I feel the NDP not Liberals are a far greater threat to the PCs and the NDP will be Wynne on steroids so they must be stopped.
Also in other news, Toronto Centre candidate Meredith Cartwright paid actors to show up as Ford supporters. I don’t think Ford knew about this and all campaigns always have rogue candidates, but clearly with the Liberals being desperate and wanting to pull up whatever mud they can, PC supporters need to think about things carefully and not do anything stupid. We need to avoid having what happened to the Tories in the 2004 federal election.
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I have to say that Ford is handling the minor bumps pretty well. I think he speaks much better unscripted.
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Interesting discussion on Ford Nation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S7kx4FYXr8. Interesting discussion and also how Ford has so far combined your rural white support with suburban immigrant community. I’ve always unlike some conservatives thought there is lots of potential to do well amongst immigrants. Immigrants often tend to be more entrepreneurial and wary of your big activist government that appeals to your downtown types.
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Christine Moore appears to be the NDP party femme fatale who was instrumental in the ouster from the LPC of both Massimo Pacetti and Scott Andrews. After reading the article in the following link the Hall & Oates song “Maneater” is running through my head. Christie Blatchford has the details. http://nationalpost.com/opinion/christie-blatchford-moore-may-not-be-the-feminist-conscience-she-has-branded-herself-to-be
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For Joanne @ May 8, 2018 at 7:40 pm & May 9, 2018 at 10:08 am:
Thank you.
Missed Andrew Scheer’s appearance on TLMEP. Will see if I can find it on Rad-Can website.
For Greg @ May 8, 2018 at 4:16 pm & Anne in swON @ May 8, 2018 at 8:37 pm & May 9, 2018 at 6:33 am:
Mr. Weir’s ouster was unjustified, in my opinion, whereas Ms. Moore seems to have been treated less harshly.
I read Christie Blatchford’s article. She confirmed my suspicions that Ms. Moore was behind the ouster of Liberals Pacetti & Andrews. She always seemed a little off to me, especially when she would viciously attack then-Defence Minister MacKay in QP. After she finished hurling her accusations, she usually had a weird look on her face. Or maybe it was just my perception.
For Miles @ May 8, 2018 at 3:51 pm:
I haven’t been following any politics as closely lately, so I don’t have any particular insight on Quebec’s upcoming election. However, from the commentary I hear on a prominent English radio station, many Anglos are supposedly prepared to ditch the provincial Liberals for the CAQ because of what the Anglo community deems as being taken for granted by the Liberals.
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