Category: Uncategorized

Death of Democracy.

by Peter Lowry

We should all wait patiently for the time soon when we have to admit that democracy might be a ghost. A ghost is something that people talk about but we are not sure we have really seen it. Democracy might just be a fleeting idea—admittedly lost in the face of expediency and corruption. It might not have the profitability or decisiveness for business use but believing in democracy can be an effective sop for the hoi polio.

But magic minorities that can out-vote majorities are not common in most democracies. For premier Doug Ford to legislate it for Toronto and Ottawa, it makes you wonder where it came from. His only experience with a city other than Toronto is the time he spent likely losing money for his father’s company trying to move some of their business to Chicago. Yet that city is known for having strong mayors in what is considered, in the U.S.A., as a weak mayoral system.

The explanation of what I just wrote is simple. Because of their control of the agenda, budgeting, police services and other key appointments, Chicago mayors have appeared strong over the years. It also helps that the democrats usually hold all or almost all of the 50 council seats. And Doug Ford would have been there in the middle of Richard M. Daly’s reign of 22 years as mayor of that city.

(I remember how impressed I was with the smooth running of Chicago city hall. I was in Chicago in the same time period, researching a book about Chicago in the 1920s that I was writing.)

And if Doug Ford got the idea for Toronto’s super minority from his late brother, maybe Rob Ford was into his crack-cocaine habit at the time.

Mind you, I would also disagree with super majorities also. Some jurisdictions put the brakes on democracy by requiring a super majority. Any proposal for having 65 per cent or anything more than 51 per cent to carry, is just as anti-democratic. It makes it obvious that the perpetrators are opposed to any change in their handiwork.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Mayor Tory Betrays Us.

by Peter Lowry

It must be a conservative thing. Mayor John Tory of Toronto seems to have been brought over to premier Doug Ford’s conservatives. Once a Tory, always a Tory, I guess. The only problem is that this is not the way most Canadians want to see their cities run.

You have to remember that under the Canadian constitution, our cities have no status. They are completely controlled by the provinces. They are allowed to pass by-laws related to zoning and other municipal matters, but nothing that goes beyond their municipal boundaries or that conflicts with federal or provincial law.

And few premiers have been as ruthless as premier Doug Ford in Ontario, who spent a very unusual time being tutored in municipal politics by his younger brother Rob Ford. And when Rob Ford was not well enough, Doug Ford ran for mayor of Toronto. He was defeated by none other than John Tory.

But Doug Ford got his licks in later. Despite all conventions to the contrary, when elected premier, his first official actions were to interfere in the already underway elections in Toronto and in Peel County. He got even with his past enemies on Toronto council by cutting the number of wards in Toronto back to half for which people were competing. It made a mess of the municipal election in Toronto that year but Ford hardly cared. In addition, he cancelled that year’s open election of the Peel County chair where Patrick Brown was seeking to run, as he had been refused a nomination in the provincial election. (Brown jumped into the Brampton mayoralty in the last minute and won on his notoriety.)

But mayor Tory and premier Ford appear to have made up as Tory begins his third four-year term as Toronto mayor and Ford starts his second four-year term as premier. It is probably a critical position for Tory, as the city can ill-afford to have an ongoing battle with the city’s major source of senior government funds.

And the facts are that Tory has already started using his so-called ‘super’ powers with his appointment of the new city manager. He has gone over to the dark side.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Downey Does It His Way.

by Peter Lowry

Ontario attorney general Doug Downey is accepting applications for the position of Ontario chief justice. In a rare turnabout in the process of selecting senior legal personnel in Ontario, Downey has appointed himself as the sole contact for judges wanting to assume the top judicial role in the province. He is very obviously attempting to politicize the judiciary.

It is similar to the attempt of premier Doug Ford, four years ago, to appoint an unqualified crony from the Toronto police service to commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police. It could only have been worse if it was to be the top judge of Ontario’s courts.

And I strongly suggest that it would be bad news to let the MPP from my electoral district control that process. In America, they have been politicizing the courts for many years—and you have seen where it gets the Americans. And I sincerely doubt that we would do any better here with obviously political appointees.

MPP Doug Downey is not even resident in my riding. He is the go-to guy for the Tories from Severn, Ontario and has served on Orillia council. He was dumped on my riding to keep Patrick Brown out in the cold. Downey might appear affable and friendly but, in my opinion, is nothing but a conservative ward healer. This guy sits at the cabinet table as the chief legal officer of the province. Yet he obviously has not convinced the cabinet that their promotion of highway 413, when developers have bought up much of the key land of value, makes the government look corrupt.

And while there were small adjustments made in the past within Ontario’s Greenbelt, Ford’s friends are likely to make out gangbusters with the huge chunk of Greenbelt that he is releasing to them. A competent attorney general would not ignore such a blatant and quasilegal action.

It is not that I would ever suggest that we remain locked in the past. The normal procedure has been for the retiring chief justice to advise the attorney general of which of the experienced judges might be qualified to replace him or her. I have to admit that the retiring judge would have the best knowledge of the most qualified underlings for the job. Making a political appointment lacks class and character.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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In Ayn Rand’s Tutelage.

by Peter Lowry

A recent opinion piece in my daily paper invoked the image of “Ayn Rand’s Apostles.” It is hard to believe that forty years after her death, a Russian-born script writer from Hollywood is still influencing the right wing of America. And, even worse, influencing the hard-right libertarians in our country to challenge the legitimacy of Canada’s federal government.

It is important to remember the Ayn Rand philosophy of Objectivism was built on extremist levels of libertarian self-interest and self-gratification. It also should be noted that she felt she needed to emphasize her anti-communist leanings in an America after the Second World War.

When foolish Ford in Ontario announced his strong-mayor idea, I must admit I saw little wrong with giving the mayor something to do rather then follow the firetrucks and cut ribbons to get his picture in the paper. It makes little sense when the mayor has no more voting strength than his ward councillors despite sometimes having more citizen votes than all the city councillors combined. I was also under the impression that a strong mayor would be given powers of appointment. I never considered a situation where the mayor could pass legislation with less than 50 per cent support.

Mayor John Tory disappointed me when he made an appointment without council support before the bill had even been passed by the legislature. As much as he might smile at the prospect of an easy third term in office, passing motions with just minority voting is hardly democratic.

But one only has to look at Alberta to see just how bad the situation might be. Danielle Smith has backtracked from some of the extremes of her Sovereignty Act. What she does not seem to understand is how this country is put together. I think I took that level of civics in public school.

Somehow, I doubt that Scott Moe, premier of Saskatchewan, will follow with his province’s sovereignty act. He does like to follow Alberta’s lead.

But the guy who marches to the Ayn Rand tunes in Quebec is the bigot and tribalist, François Legault. He is giving Canada a reputation for bigotry and racism from his forbidding religious symbols, demands in immigration and preventing people from using any language other than French. Ayn Rand would have been proud of him.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Bravado and Excuses.

by Peter Lowry

It was a bad day last Monday for federal conservative leader MP Pierre Poilievre. We were watching for his secret weapon in the Mississauga-Lakeshore bye-election It seems the secret weapon is still secret. After all, a schemer such as Poilievre would be careful not to let it be known too soon.

Not having been in that Mississauga electoral district in the past few years, I had no inside insight into how the campaign was going. I readily admitted that I hoped Charles Sousa would win but it was based on meeting him a few times over the years and coming away with the opinion that he was a bright guy and a good liberal.

And I guess I was influenced by the talking heads on TV and the pundits of print who looked on the bye-election as a test of Pierre Poilievre’s reach and strength. They were not giving Charles much credit for being a good campaigner. He is.

He did a good job for Kathleen Wynne and the Wynne government. I was never impressed with Kathleen Wynne. She might have been a liberal but her idea of progress was measured in the progress of a tortoise.

The good news for Justin Trudeau is that he now has a competent finance minister in the wings as a ready replacement for Chystia Freeland, when she moves on to more familiar ground. Finance is a full-time job in Ottawa and it takes constant care. No dilettantes allowed.

The bad news for Pierre Poilievre is that if he thought his use of social media to sell his concept of conservatism is going to work for him, he is whistling past the grave yard. Conservatives tend to be a bit old-fashioned and are hardly likely to be devotees of Tic Tok. Canadians are still transitioning in their media interests and you need to reflect their balance. And don’t forget that many of them were quite annoyed with the border blockages and Ottawa infestation last February. They are also unlikely question the governor of the Bank of Canada or agree with promoting cryptocurrencies. And a conservative leader who apes the falsehoods and pipe-dreams of Donald Trump in the United States is hardly going to win new conservative converts in Canada.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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In the Third World with Ford.

by Peter Lowry

It is beginning to seem we are living in a banana republic with premier Ford and his conservative government. The other day, the Ontario government officially asked the Red Cross to come to its aid. It needed more staff for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. The hospital in Ottawa has had to double its intensive care capabilities and did not have the staff to handle the influx of patients.

I always supported the Red Cross because of their work in third-world countries in need. Ontario has more than the financial resources to fund healthcare. These cheap conservative bastards have their nerve to impose on the Red Cross.

Not that any hospital in Ontario has the staff needed to meet the needs after the last few years of pandemic and the conservative government. Not only has the government denied fair compensation for the workplace needs but is actually driving people out of the healthcare profession by blocking any reasonable raise in pay during a period of rampant inflation.

This is a government that looks after their friends who want to profit from land development in the greenbelt. This is a government that cuts taxes for their friends and then tells government employees that the cupboard is bare.

This government finds a highway to build where their friends have conveniently bought up the more profitable land it runs through. The highway is parallel to two of the heaviest used of the east-west highways in the province—yet it goes from nowhere to nowhere.

The Ford government is a disgrace to both the conservative and other governments who built this province. They pillage and profiteer. They care nothing for the people. They pander to the rich and those who care only for themselves.

What is hard to believe is that any sensible person would ever support or vote for this government. They must have decent conservatives such as the late premier Bill Davis spinning in his grave. Ford and friends are a disgrace.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Canada is Not a Buffet.

by Peter Lowry

Despite the obvious disagreement of some of the provincial malcontents in this country, Canada is not the product of its provinces. This country came together for mutual benefit. It grew over years, not overnight. The most spectacular failure of the confederation has been the failure to have the constitution mature with the country.

And yet, we have overcome many of the weaknesses inflicted on us by the myopia of the United Kingdom law makers, those so many years ago. Those of us who have participated in trying to unpeel the onion over the years have been remiss in saying how we would put it back together. Land-locked Alberta is in no position to just demand access to ports to the world. Nor is a coquettish Quebec ready to whore for the Americans rather than their accommodating and reasonable, fellow Canadians.

In its infancy, Canada had more potential. The bands of steel that are our national railways are now far out of date. Our grasp and use of new technologies is hampered by the lack of constitutional updating. Our lack of leadership on the national level has opened the gates to narrowly focussed provincial poltroons. A rotten apple should not be allowed to infect the rest of the bushel.

But reality is a prime minister who, at an impressionable age, watched his father struggle with constitutional questions. The younger Trudeau is afraid of opening a door he cannot close. He is his mother’s son. He is an elitist and a consummate actor. He just does not know when it is best to bring down the curtain.

He has destroyed the liberal party as a structure capable of supporting him as leader in the next election. His bravado about leading in the next election is misplaced. He needs to move over for a new leader who can keep the new democrats on side for the next election. Canadians need and want a progressive government.

Canada has promises to keep to its citizens. It has to build to the future, not live in the past. It needs high-speed trains traversing the country. It needs a democratically chosen body to address and recommend changes in the country’s constitution. It needs to have those changes on the ballot with our federal elections. Canada has a great future ahead. We need to make it so.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Inviting Mr. Schreiner.

by Peter Lowry

It is not something you think of and rush to write about. For some time, I have wondered if green leader MPP Mike Schreiner might be a prospect as leader of the Ontario liberals. It seems to be a good fit. There is no question that Mike needs a party to lead and the Ontario liberals need a leader who knows where he is going and can lead others.

Not that it is something for an ad hoc group of liberals need decide. The Liberal Party of Ontario exists and bears responsibility for the future of the party and its leadership. It was a group who should not have stuck their necks out that pushed Michael Ignatieff to win the federal party leadership in 2008. I had known Michael when he was a young man and excited about politics. When he came to Barrie as leader and we had a chance to chat about the years between, I realized that it was far too late in life for Michael to change course. The political spark was gone.

That said, I think Mike Schreiner has something to offer the liberals. I agree that he should consider the leadership but my warning to those pushing him is that you should never put someone on your shoulders unless the person wants to be there.

I also think the provincial party has a few good prospects in Ottawa. MP Nathanial Erskine-Smith from Toronto is a political comer and it is too bad that Justin Trudeau has not recognized that talent. Another MP, who is from a very different part of Toronto than Erskine-Smith, is MP Michael Coteau. I am convinced that Coteau would have had the liberals sitting in the government seats today in Ontario if the last leadership had not been decided behind the curtains.

And there is no doubt that there are other possible leadership candidates who can take on and defeat these awful Ford conservatives.

But they need a solvent party. They need a committed party. They need a party that can cover its monthly nut with membership fees. They need an every-member-votes leadership contest. They have to cut off membership before every cemetery in the province has been signed up. We don’t need sign-ups for this candidate or that candidate. We need everyone to decide if they are going to be there to help us win against the present government. That work should be underway now.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

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Confounded Capitals.

by Peter Lowry

One of my readers messaged me a complaint about my use, or lack of use, of capital letters in my blog. The simple answer is, that he might be out of touch with the trend in writing English of gradually doing away with capital letters that serve no purpose in communication. Our ability to communicate should never be locked in the past.  

For example, we know that Doug Ford is premier of Ontario. That sentence contained three proper names. They were capitalized. The word premier did not need to be capitalized. And I don’t bother to say he is the Honourable. He isn’t and I don’t live in the past. It is the same that I don’t need to capitalize the word city when talking about Toronto. Yet, I think we will still be capitalizing proper names for some time to come.

And Considering the Collective.

While we are on this subject, I must apologize for accidently posting two blogs on the same day in the Progressive Bloggers collective. I have always felt that posting multiple blogs on the same day is an abuse of being included in the collective.

But it also got me a heads up from Google Analytics that something was wrong in my stats. Since about a third of my readers come through the collective, I try to make a useful contribution every day. The only problem is that those readers do not have the same easy access to the 12 years of blogs (4600 posts) on political subjects that might be of interest. These archives are more readily available through babelonthebay.com .

And the Numbers Game.

Back in my newspaper days, I paid close attention to the Starch organization’s statistics on editorial readership and the separate figures on advertising. What became clear when going through those studies was that circulation figures for the newspaper are only that. Readers of editorial content within the newspaper are separate figures and readership of a particular article is another figure entirely. And then there were three separate levels of attention. The last column was headed ‘Read Most’ and that told the story. It puzzles me that to-day a skilled writer such as Rosie DiManno in the Toronto Star can sum up a column in the first five words (such as: “Harry and Meghan are…irrelevant.) and then continue for another 3000 or more words that just might also be irrelevant.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

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A Contest of One.

by Peter Lowry

That is what you call a political boo-boo. It was an opportunity for attention. It was a time to be heard. You forego it at your peril. A new leader for any party needs the litmus test of opposition. It is a time of party cleansing and clarification.

Talking to liberal leader Steven Del Duca at the beginning of the provincial campaign this year, I found he did not understand that the conservatives had duped him. He had been waiting for the election to make his case, so the conservatives gave him a 15-day election. He had 15 days and then the advance polls opened and the public interest would shift to voting. He had almost no time to make an impression. It was a waste of time.

Del Duca never looked like a leader. He was not one. He travelled the province in a van. He was never important enough for a bus. He never dressed as a premier. He is a casual kind of guy.

Both opposition leaders from the 2022 provincial election ran for mayor in their municipalities this fall and won. Andrea Horwath is now the mayor of Hamilton and Steven Del Duca is mayor of Vaughan. They are both likely to be happier there. And they can rail at premier Doug Ford all they like.

But how foolish are the provincial new democrats not to be sure they had a contest for the leadership of their party? They can ill-afford the lethargy of their party members. They needed to build enthusiasm for the need to rid the province of Doug Ford. They needed the party platforms to introduce their leadership candidates. They needed to define the party in this 21st Century.

There is no doubt that new democrat leader MPP Marit Stiles from Davenport riding in Toronto has a pretty smile. Is she worth $180,000 per year of taxpayers’ money as leader of the opposition in the legislature? Andrea Horwath was never worth it. She never earned it. She might as well have been sitting mute in the legislature for the past ten years.

The leader of the opposition in the legislature does not need to be a nag. The job requires sharp political instincts. You cannot be trailing the government. You have to get ahead of the conservatives. You have to be able to see the government’s weaknesses. And attack with concern and smarts.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to:

[email protected]