Provincial Politics – Page 83

Who is worried about Patrick Brown?

January 18, 2017 by Peter Lowry

This advice is just for Ontario Progressive Conservatives. They are the ones who need to worry. The reason for this is the statement made last week by Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown’s good friend and campaign chair Walied Soliman. He is reported as saying, “We know that the Liberals are going to unleash a campaign of unprecedented ferocity against Patrick.”

That is the best news we have heard in a while. It is good to hear that those of us in Patrick Brown’s electoral district are not the only ones to know what a disaster Brown would be in the premier’s office. Walied, a Toronto lawyer, seems to think that the only path for Ontario Liberals is advertising that is a “negative, misleading and personal campaign against Patrick.”

To help stay this effort by the Liberals, Walied has had the Tory advertising agency create their own “negative, misleading and personal” ads featuring Patrick Brown.

One of the ads is not only negative in that it criticizes the ruling Liberals but it is misleading because the facts are wrong. He says that Toronto hydro prices are the highest in North America. That is not only ridiculously inaccurate but it is as though they never bothered to check.

Another of these digital (Internet) ads is about Brown’s support for an autistic child. During his years in politics, Brown has been hypocritically using charities to promote himself. He spent more money when in Ottawa than any other MP on mailings paid for by taxpayers but promoting himself and this or that charity. People thought he was helping the charities but it was Patrick who got the benefit. His advertising could often alienate supporters of the charity while creating a false impression of support. There are advertising experts who believe this could be doing the charities more harm than good.

It is lucky for the Ontario Tories that these digital ads are so cheap to make. (People are already familiar with the quality of ads like these from YouTube.)

One of the ads is a personal explanation by Patrick of overcoming his childhood stuttering. Having a brother who also had a problem with a childhood stutter, we also know that it takes the full support of family and friends to help the youngster get over the problem.

You would have thought though that having corrected the problem, Patrick would have had something worthwhile to say. As he has always been a politician, he continues to tell his audiences what they want him to say. This tends to confuse people though and nobody really knows what he stands for. Maybe he thinks that people will elect him and worry about where he wants to go later.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Premier Wynne: Colour her gone.

January 16, 2017 by Peter Lowry

It seems more and more likely that Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Ontario Liberals are on the slippery side of the slope. Nothing says it more emphatically than the situation in which we find ourselves here in Babel. (You know Babel as Barrie, Ontario.)

We are less than two years from a tough election situation here in Barrie and there has been no sign of provincial Liberal activity. Normally you would expect some evidence of action. Especially since there needs to be new provincial electoral district associations created by the political parties, you would have expected that to happen by now. You would have expected a candidate search committee to be activated by the Liberals to talk to potential candidates and be sure they are aware of what is required of them.

What makes this doubly important is that this is the riding that PC Leader Patrick Brown has chosen to contest. It is hard to imagine there are many Conservatives with any common sense wanting that nerd representing them at Queen’s Park. He is not a leader. He has nothing to offer the party or the voters. He flip-flops on issues trying to convince people he is on their side—whatever that is. He is incapable of leading the fractious Conservative caucus. He has no direction and would be a serious embarrassment to Ontario if he accidently became Premier.

But the good news is that we can defeat him here in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. And when we defeat him, the Ontario Conservatives would have an opportunity to call a new leadership convention—one where Brown and others would not be allowed to cheat. Just think of it: an honest political leadership convention.

And if the election just produced a Liberal minority government, maybe Kathleen Wynne would also take the opportunity to resign. She has not led the Liberals into anything but trouble.

There is no reason that the New Democrats could not take the opportunity to also dump their inept leader Andrea Horwath. She is not leading them anywhere anyway.

Ontario is in a very unusual political situation. It has three major party leaders who all need to be replaced. And then, after getting a chance to assess the results of some new leadership, we could vote again. We might have a chance to get it right.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Not everyone hates Premier Wynne.

January 6, 2017 by Peter Lowry

It is too bad that Ontario Premier Wynne has no politically smart advisors or staff. Here it is the first week of 2017 and the foolish lady is deep in the do-do of her own making.

By selecting the beginning of January to launch her ill-fated cap and trade program, she has been ripped off by the oil companies who multiplied her increases by four to five times. Wynne’s average of 4.4 cents per litre on cap and trade might not have caused a ruckus but 16 to 20 cents per litre was the increase the voters saw at the pumps.

And Ontario residents are complaining about Wynne and her Liberals instead of the rapacious oil companies. How politically astute is that?

Obviously, Wynne’s timing sucks. The oil companies can come up with all kinds of reasons for their increases. Wynne should have dumped the cap and trade deal with Quebec and California and supported the Trudeau government’s carbon tax. That would have let Prime Minister Trudeau take the blame for the increase. He has some goodwill to spare; Wynne does not.

The basic problem is that the voters do not understand cap and trade. To voters a tax is a tax. Most can understand a carbon tax. And even more voters understand global warming. There might be a cause and effect confusion here but most can understand that gasoline and diesel engines pollute our air.

But cap and trade is a system based on industry wide negotiations with politicians to set caps on emissions. If you come under the cap, you might have some emissions to trade with a company that cannot meet its commitments. This trade goes on between companies. The public is not advised of what is going on between companies but pays for it in retail prices.

In simple terms a carbon tax is an open and easy to understand system. Cap and trade is a largely hidden and hard to understand system. And with Ontario and Quebec firms trading with California companies, who knows what is going on?

Quite frankly, it is our opinion that Kathleen Wynne is not suited to politics. Her only reason for winning the 2014 provincial election was that the she had no opposition. Timmy Hudak of the Conservatives and Andrea Horwath of the New Democrats handed her that election on a platter.

And we are heading for a situation where history can repeat itself. The New Democrats cannot find a replacement for loser Horwath. And that putz Patrick Brown who stole the Conservative leadership does not have a clue as to how to get his caucus behind him. People are finally figuring out that he has no direction for the Conservative Party and he is incapable of leading a boy scout troop.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Brown’s beliefs bewilder.

January 3, 2017 by Peter Lowry

After the Legislature of Ontario rose for the holidays there must have been a press gallery gathering to talk about how to handle PC Leader Patrick Brown. The discussion might not have got very far but there must have been general agreement that the socially conservative website LifeSiteNews has a point in referring to him as a “shape-shifting weasel.”

Those of us familiar with Brown are quite willing to go along with that for his epitaph. He does go to a lot of trouble to convince you that he is whatever you want him to be. He was raised a Roman Catholic and has all the words handy to convince the devout of his sincerity. It was no surprise that in free votes in the House of Commons, he voted in favour of socially conservative issues.

Brown has always worked hard in his electoral district at keeping the Barrie Christian Council on side. While the stronger churches in Barrie today appear to be the socially-conscious as opposed to the more doctrinaire, the council has kept close contact with the City Council. Brown counts on this religious group for support.

In nine relatively wasted years voting Conservative for Stephen Harper in Ottawa, Brown’s only responsibility was to get re-elected. He promoted this by pre-empting fund-raising for local charities. Every month, he would pick one or two charities to support on his taxpayer-funded mailings to his electors. He was known for supporting charities and spending the most of all MPs on taxpayer-funded mailings. Many constituents foolishly claimed they voted for him because he did “such a good job for charities.”

What he really did was stifle the charities and interfere with their fund raising. The worst situation in this regard was the co-opting of Hockey Night in Barrie which started as a fund-raising effort for Royal Victoria Hospital. The hockey players and RVH staff involved could not object to Brown’s getting himself included. There is no question that his imprimatur helped make the event more successful but there were many questions asked about expenses, cost to Barrie taxpayers, actual funds raised and the need for auditing of the entire event.

Brown continues enjoying the notoriety of the event today without making any further contribution.

But the main concern for people in the Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte provincial electoral district is where does this guy really intend to take this province. It all depends if you like surprises!

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Happy New Year to Casino Rama.

December 31, 2016 by Peter Lowry

Many of us have a local pub, restaurant or Legion hall where people know you and make you welcome. We feel that way about our local casino. We have gotten to know many of the staff over the years and they know and welcome us. And we do that knowing that we are going to lose money two out of three times we go there.

But before you think we are throwing money away, let us explain. Gambling is all about odds. Dice have six sides and a deck of playing cards consists of 52 cards divided into four suits of 13 cards each. No matter what the game, there are odds to consider. The simplest odds in the house are at the roulette table. Each number on the roulette layout is a 37 to 1 bet. Since the casino only pays 35 to 1, it makes money and stays in business. And our only advice to any gambler is that if you are not aware of the odds you should not make the bet. (Which is a good reason to never put money into a slot machine,)

The best odds in a casino are usually at the craps tables. Craps is the fastest and, to some, the most complex game. It is where the gambler can win or lose the most money in the shortest period of time. It is well worth learning to play craps but like any game in a casino, always start by managing your money and knowing when to quit.

And the time to quit is not when you run out of money. That is the rookie mistake. We have seen it in casinos from Las Vegas to Hamburg. It is embarrassing. And never play to get your money back. That is a fool’s errand.

If you like casinos and go every once in a while, you should write down what you won or lost each time. Add it up at the end of a year. You might need to read up on the games you like playing.

We added up our 2016 the other day and found we had been to Rama Casino more than 25 times. We also found that we won a bit more than we lost and that was good.

But that was not the real win. We saw some fairly good shows, courtesy of the casino. We had dinner at one of their seven restaurants most times and these are usually complimentary though, under Ontario law, you have to pay for the wine separately.

The reason we end up with a bit more money sometimes is that we manage our money. They will not let you touch the cards or bring your own dice but you can treat your money with some respect. If you do not manage it, nobody else will. The simple rule is that if you are losing, leave the table. And if you are winning, add a little of the win to your next bet. This is called parlaying and it is the only way to win. If you always make the same bet, you are just feeding the odds—that favour the casino.

You too can enjoy your local casino.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Ontario: The little engine that could in 2017.

December 22, 2016 by Peter Lowry

There are many versions of “The Little Engine That Could.” There are also various claimed origins of the inspirational children’s story from as far as more than a century past. There are also many adult versions of the theme by many writers, prominent among them (and the most prolific) was the mid to late 20^th Century works of American Minister Norman Vincent Peale. They all stress that a positive attitude that looks on the bright side of things can help in producing positive results. And why not?

It is our sincere wish that all Ontario citizens take that kind of positive attitude to their province in 2017. That is because Ontario can and should be that kind of economic engine for all of us. We just need to believe in it.

Leaving aside the desperate dearth of determined leadership of any of the political parties, Ontario is succeeding more despite Queen’s Park than because of it. Unemployment is not as bad as it was. The economy seems to be making a comeback. Who would believe that all the forecasts of doom and gloom were wrong?

It seems to us that the politicians should get rid of all those bankers who have been giving them bad advice. Who has ever heard of a banker who understood people or politics? Have you ever met a banker who understood positive communications? Bankers have three speeds: caution, slow and stop.

This province has opportunities to get into the fast lane and there appears to be nobody at Queen’s Park who understands that. For example, why are we doing drip torture with beer and wine at the grocery stores? It is time to stop being half pregnant. Open the doors to all grocery stores to sell beer and wine. Stop the silly procrastination.

And it seems to us that the Ottawa Liberals have a good idea to open the doors to international money markets to buy into Canadian infrastructure. We could have Ontario’s rail commuter lines electrified and speeded up far faster with the impetus of private investment in these future and growing money earners. And what about the high-speed rail corridor from Windsor to Quebec City? That is an investment that most international investors can understand. It is also very good for the environment.

Those are obvious and many more of us have strong ideas. We should be positive, believe in them and grow them. Because we can!

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Who chose who?

December 17, 2016 by Peter Lowry

It is grating when we read about Ontario politics and a careless reporter refers to Patrick Brown as ‘winning’ the leadership of Ontario’s Conservatives. He hardly won it. It would be the same as saying Donald Trump won the most votes on November 8, 2016. He did not win the most votes; he won the United States’ Electoral College.

But there is little anyone can do about it now. Despite the questionable circumstances in both cases, it is too late for change.

You can have recounts for Clinton in Wisconsin, Michigan or Ohio and what are the chances? Sure, the FBI made improper allegations about Clinton and the CIA held back their allegations about the Russians helping Trump until after the election. Would it have made a difference? Who knows? The saddest part of it was Donald Trump claiming the election was rigged before hand, because he thought he was going to lose.

But Brown in Ontario is small potatoes compared to manipulations south of the border. All he did was steal the leadership of his Conservative Party. He dumped more than 40,000 new memberships on a party with less than 25,000 members. How did he do it? He cheated. He beat the popular choice of the Ontario PCs by his massive sign-ups of thousands of immigrants—mainly from the sub-continent of India.

Did all these newcomers to Ontario pay their own memberships? No. Obviously not! Were not some of them the same as those who were signed up to support Kathleen Wynne win the Liberal leadership two years earlier? Yes. The same organizers signed up the same people. It is so routine!

And do they pay their own membership fee? No. Payment is optional and most often ignored. Who cares?

Some of us care. Honestly still has to count for something in politics. Voters just assume both sides cheat and consider it part of the game.

But politics is not a game. Politics has a purpose to serve people. Political office is a position of trust. To give the finger to that trust is despicable.

Americans do not really deserve the turmoil of the next four years. They have chosen a President who is not political. He is not even democratic. He will make mistakes and he will cause problems—hopefully nothing that cannot be repaired.

Conversely, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party leader is a politician. He is a conniver and a sleaze. He is dishonest. He does not think he needs follow the rules. Think back to Michael Harris’ Ontario at the turn of the century. Mr. Brown could be far worse.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Andrea Horwath, where are you?

December 13, 2016 by Peter Lowry

We were starting to think of our naughty or nice list for the holiday and realized that we had written nothing about Andrea Horwath for many months. We are talking about the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party. She has simply been missing from the news.

How do you decide if she is naughty or nice if she only communicates with her followers on Facebook and Twitter? Seriously, this is a breach of the politician’s oath! And if you ask Siri “Where’s Andrea?” the stupid voice will ask you “Andrea what?”

What did the Ontario NDP do? Did they take a page from the federal party’s book and fire their leader? And then forget to tell anyone? When is the leadership convention? Is anyone interested in running? Are things so bad that Andrea will have to run to succeed herself because nobody else wants the job? That looks like the situation with their federal friends. Tom Mulcair might just have to run to succeed himself.

Was this not supposed to be the time when everybody was to study the LEAP Manifesto? This document written by some Toronto intelligentsia was supposed to save the New Democratic Party? Is it forgotten? Was it overtaken by Justin Trudeau’s Sunny Days? Sunny days are so much easier to understand than some intellectual old manifesto.

Funny thing is that quite a bit of Trudeau’s Sunny Days is almost lifted from the LEAP Manifesto. The only clinker is that the NDP Leader in Alberta and Justin Trudeau went off script supporting a couple pipelines to get Alberta tar sands to the oceans so that Albertans can pay their carbon taxes.

And what are the Ontario New Democrats going to do about Kathleen Wynne’s Cap and Trade taxes and Justin Trudeau’s carbon taxes? Does Andrea even understand the difference and did you hear anything of interest from Andrea Horwath in the Legislature about that? And all we hear from is that putz Brown, Leader of the Ontario PCs, making hay with the voters while Andrea seems to be sitting on her hands.

All we are trying to say is that Andrea and the NDP seem to be keeping a low profile. While Premier Wynne is leading her Liberals lemming-like to the sea and Brown is trying to convince the voters that he is the Second Coming, Andrea Horwath does not even seem in the game. What is going on here?

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

The grandstanding of Patrick Brown.

December 8, 2016 by Peter Lowry

People who prefer to grandstand in politics can be a pain in the ass. There are times when a politician should to take a stand on an issue but that is when you can reason and suggest alternatives to help solve the problem. Our Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition in Ontario does not believe in such niceties. He just goes for the jugular.

And to make matters worse, his latest attack is more of an attack on a former leader of his own party than an attack on the Liberal’s Premier Wynne. John Tory who is now a very popular Mayor of Toronto was Conservative leader in Ontario from 2004 until 2009. It is the mayor’s proposal to charge tolls on the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway that Brown is dissing. Brown is asking the Premier not to agree with Tory’s proposal.

It is examples such as this that Ontario voters should pay attention to before telling pollsters that they would choose Brown over Wynne in the election less than two years from now.

What people have to realize is that for the mayor’s proposal to work, people need alternatives to those city expressways. As it is you might as well refer to those city-owned highways as stall-ways. They are grossly overcrowded from very early in the morning to late at night.

But what alternatives are people proposing to help alleviate the problems? The province and the federal government have been doing their part to offer infrastructure funds to build light rail or subways as well as fund improved transit connections for commuters. It is the constant confusion as to the city’s direction that has put Toronto so far behind in meeting infrastructure needs.

And now we have Patrick Brown MPP, a small-town boy from Barrie who is sticking his oar into Toronto’s all too muddied waters. He might have stolen the leadership of his political party last year but he failed to buy any more brains or knowledge to go with the job.

Brown’s predecessor Michael Harris might have thought he was fixing things back in the 1990s when he amalgamated the City of Toronto with its burgeoning suburbs but he failed to give the city, now more than four times the size, effective governance. It seems that no Ontario government wants to have a strong and capable government in Toronto.

But if we had Patrick Brown running the province, we would all be in trouble.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]

Waiting for your train.

November 25, 2016 by Peter Lowry

Ontario’s MetroLinx people came to Barrie the other day to talk about planning for the future of the GO Train commuter line to Toronto. The good news is that it is the intent to electrify and twin the line by 2025. The bad news is that it will take that long. And there are many decisions to be made as the work progresses.

As the Barrie line is just one of the lines feeding commuters daily into Toronto, it has to take its place among the planned priorities. Many of the questions though will impact planning for all the lines. These questions are critical to speed of the system, energy costs, noise levels and convenience for connections. If they are not made in the best interest of all concerned they will be very expensive to correct in the future.

The type of trains will be the first concern. They make many stops, need to be of uniform maximum length for the stations and usually have driver cabs on the first and last cars. These lighter trains with power to all wheels can accelerate faster, stop faster, are cheaper to maintain and use less energy. Some high-speed trains such as the InterContinental Express (ICE) in Germany and the Shinkansen in Japan are built on the same principle but the Train à Grand Vitesse (TGV) in France uses heavier electric locomotives for high-speed (300 km/h plus) trains going greater distances.

Another advantage to individually-powered cars for commuter lines is the use of regenerative braking. This means that when slowing down, the trains are generating power that can be providing the acceleration to another train. With the many stops of a commuter line, this provides substantial power savings and lower cost maintenance for the braking systems.

But before we get these new electric trains on the Barrie line we have to twin the line. Luckily the existing right-of-way provides the room for two sets of tracks but when most of the overpasses and underpasses were built, they were built for just the existing single track line. There is lots of construction ahead.

One thing we should not forget to mention is that the new electric service will not only be faster, more efficient and (in the long run) cheaper, but it will also be much quieter. Commuters might need to set a wake up call on their phones for the end of the shorter trip to the city and home.

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Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]