Month: February 2022

Populism Run Rampant.

by Peter Lowry

Ontario premier Doug Ford seems to have a new motto. It is “If it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.” The June 2 election is looming and Ford has good reason to be worried. He has made few friends (other than developers) over the past four years and he likes being called premier. And he can hardly trust the fact that he has no opposition to save him from having his fat ass punted down University Avenue on June 2.

His chances of re-election are so dismal as to get him cancelling the cost of renewing Ontario vehicle licence plates this year. And if you have already paid for that renewal sticker, he will have the province send you a cheque. How he is going to replace that money going into the transportation ministry, we have no idea. And neither does the premier.

But then, he has no idea how much damage he has done to education and health services of Ontario. While he has had to promise millions in increases to support hospitals and school boards, his government has spent little of the money. The disgraceful treatment of nurses alone in the throes of a pandemic is an indication of how cheap and mean he can be. Why anyone in healthcare or teaching would vote for his government in June would be a puzzle.

And yet he will campaign on the money he has saved throughout the pandemic. His act that was passed by his government to have a budget prepared each year by the end of March has once more been swept aside. This year, his only excuse is that he wants voters to hear his pre-election budget closer to election day. It only means that the budget will be a farce. It will neither be believable nor likely to ever be implemented.

The only political possibility for the Ford government on June 2 is that there is no cohesive or organized opposition to his government. The new democrats have the same do-nothing, whiny leader for the past ten years and the liberals have no visible leadership in the legislature. The best that could happen is that the three major parties could each end up with a third of the seats in the legislature. The only benefit to that would be that there would be a liberal-NDP coalition to make sure Doug Ford is out of the premier’s office.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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A Pragmatic Cop-out.

by Peter Lowry

It was 12 years ago that I helped elect a new mayor for Barrie, Ontario where I was now living. It was fun. I liked the candidate and his wife. It was an excellent way to really get to know my new city. The three-term mayor announced the other day that he wants to run provincially in my electoral district of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. I was delighted that he finally decided to take the plunge.

The good news in this is that the riding can get rid of the carpetbagger that Doug Ford dumped on us in the 2018 election. As attorney general of Ontario, conservative Doug Downey has been of no use to the city or any of the surrounding rural areas. He was the man who was never here. He might have done something for where he lives up in Severn but Barrie was forgotten. He likely spent more time driving through Barrie on Highway 400 than he did in the actual city. He is nothing but a ward healer from small town Ontario.

The good news is that mayor Jeff Lehman is a strong campaigner. I ran the ground game for him in his first mayoralty campaign and it was a pleasure to work with him. I had him working three carefully selected polls a day in the summer of 2010. He enjoyed the challenge. I went along some days to see how we were doing but, at almost twice his age, he could always out last me.

But nobody is perfect. Lehman was supposed to have written an opinion piece for the Toronto Star the other day that signalled his move to the provincial scene. It read like something a political science major would write. It was lauding pragmatism in politics. Luckily, there are few readers of the Toronto Star in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. Pragmatism is the lowest level of the political paradigm. It is used by the lazy and unthinking. It is the solution of the populist and the uncaring. It can never replace leadership and ideas.

And this is a time when the liberal party in Ontario has to showcase leadership. Ontario voters have had enough of Doug Ford’s phony populism. Every liberal candidate in the June 2 election has to run on leadership potential. It is the pragmatic path to getting elected.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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A Question if We May.

by Peter Lowry

In 1938, we let Adolph Hitler have the Sudetenland.

But Chamberlain said we would have peace in our time.

And nobody did anything.

Hitler had already taken over Austria.

And nobody did anything.

Then Hitler invaded Poland and the world was at war.

My question for today:

Why are we letting Vladimir Putin follow in the footsteps of Adolph Hitler?

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Is Boy Wonder Back?

by Peter Lowry

It was almost 30 years ago that we referred to Jean Charest as the boy wonder of the conservative party. It was in 1998 that Charest, the then leader of the federal conservative party, became leader of the Quebec liberal party. Which proved to me, what I had known all along, that Quebec liberals were neither progressive nor particularly liberal or democratic.

Now some of the federal conservatives want Charest back in Ottawa—in his former disguise as a conservative. They liked what he did as a liberal in Quebec and want him to do the same for the country.

As premier of Quebec, Charest was noted for his fights with unions and his sharply increased costs of government. He paid the government’s bills by increasing charges for electricity, increased fees for government services and increasing fees for automobile insurance. He was no populist.

He was everything a conservative is expected to be. He was narrow in his focus and mean in his actions. As premier of Quebec, Charest survived three elections—one with a minority government. His nemesis was in 2012 when he took on the youth vote and raised university fees. His government actually passed a law outlawing the student protests, that was quickly abolished by the succeeding Parti Québécois government of Pauline Marois.

Defeated in his own electoral district, Charest left politics in 2012 to return to the more profitable field of law. He has not mellowed much in the past decade.

While he might want to restore his credentials as a conservative, there is only MP Pierre Poilievre in the field at this time. It would be hard to decide between the two of them. Neither would satisfy the libertarians nor the social conservatives on the fringes of the conservative party of Canada.

No matter which of the two might be chosen by the rank and file of the conservatives, it is just going to add to the votes for Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party in the next federal election.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Please Arrest Hillier.

by Peter Lowry

At various times, Randy Hillier, an MPP from Eastern Ontario, has been known to call others “Nutbars.” It looks like he has finally joined those ranks. He advised supporters of the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa to plug the 911 help lines in Ottawa. That is the same as advising people to shout “Fire” in a crowded theater. It is irresponsible and it is illegal. It spells the end to a very edgy political career.

Not that it is a proud legacy. Randy first came to notice as the founder of the Ontario Landowners Association. It started in Renfrew and then Lanark County and spread across rural Ontario like a pandemic. Landowners are gun nuts who believe they own their land and the province has no rights over their land. It really went downhill when the landowners had an illegal deer hunt because the deer were eating crops. The province let them get away with killing deer. They still hate wind turbines, environmentalists and Trudeaus—both father and son. The Landowners have continued getting more ambitious as time goes on. They probably contributed most of the tractors that were littering downtown Ottawa this February.

Politically, Randy and the Landowners are extreme right-wing fodder for Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party. It appears that since Doug Ford kicked Randy Hillier out of the Ontario conservatives, Randy will be running in the June provincial election for the Ontario First Party—the Ontario branch of the People’s Party. We will all watch with interest to see how the voters of Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston react to that. Just why the voters in that part of Ontario have sent Randy to Queen’s Park since 2007 has always been a puzzle.

But first Randy should do some jail time. He has yet to be charged with inciting disregard of the laws protecting 911 calls from misuse. While I have never heard of anyone over the age of 15 being charged for that offence, Randy should spend some of his second childhood in the hoosegow.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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The Canadian Way.

by Peter Lowry

There will be many recaps of the events in the City of Ottawa during February 2022. Most visitors to the city at that time of year, prefer indoor recreations. Skating on the Rideau Canal at -20˚ C is for the foolhardy. Camping out on the streets around our parliament by a large number of anarchists seemed more like idiocy. It became an excellent example of the way Canadians like to handle their problems.

The events that unfolded told the world not only of Canada’s belief in the rule of law but of the benefits. While toes might have been stepped on, both indoors and out, nobody suffered serious injuries. Though frostbite was of concern.

The worst bite seemed to be indoors as parliamentarians argued the merits of an emergency measures act. The debate reflected the back and forth of the police and protestors outside. There was a lot of standing around and waiting both indoors and out. And there were winners and losers in both places.

The most serious losers were Canada’s conservative party. MPs such as Pierre Poilievre brought the party dishonour for supporting anarchists. Fighting against the emergency measures was a lost cause. The conservatives were identified in the debate with the troublemakers of the Bloc Québecois. And there is nothing the Bloc like better than a chance to stick a finger in the eyes of les anglais.

The only problem for the liberals was the reminder that their MP Bill Blair was the police chief in Toronto in 2010 who had his troops stand down while Montreal-based anarchists rampaged in downtown Toronto. Yet the next day, his troops kettled the innocent in reprisal.

But this time was different. The police always left the anarchists an escape route. And they had lots of warnings and polite requests. Only once were the police on horseback brought into play.

To many, who watched the events unfold, it was a long and sometimes boring scene. Let’s keep that as the Canadian way.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Monarchist Whine.

by Peter Lowry

Nothing seems to annoy monarchists more than to be ignored. They appear to be compiling a suit against Justin Trudeau. They have convinced themselves that he is ignoring the Queen’s Jubilee this year. They are sure that he has nothing more important to do.

It is not often that I get to defend the prime minister. This might be one of those times. The guy just got rid of those yahoos who came to Ottawa to scalp him. Now he is busy defending the action.

In these days of minority government, you not only have to brave the slings and arrows of the frustrated majority in parliament but you are likely going to be hauled into court for overstepping and overkill.

So what? Who do you think won the Battle of Parliament Hill?

And you can complain all you like about Justin Trudeau. He might be an elitist but, at least he is not a monarchist elitist. He is from a Quebec electoral district, so he has little fear of criticism from that source if he ignores the Queen’s Jubilee. He also is safe from any complaints from most Canadians.

The monarchists have to face the fact that the Queen might be a very nice lady but monarchy really is passé. I really do not care how far back you can trace her linage. Ancestors are only important to Mormons.       

I seem to remember some royal medals being passed out to conservative supporters during the Harper regime before 2015. If the medals are platinum for this platinum jubilee, I want one. I might get a good price for it on Kijiji.

I hardly care how long the monarchist list of Trudeau’s transgressions might be. I can give you a much longer list of problems we have faced with poorly chosen governor generals and senators. We have to fix our constitution sometime and when we do, we can cut the umbilical cord with the Brit royals.

But Canadians do not want to be curmudgeonly about this. Justin Trudeau should send the queen a nice card on behalf of all Canadians, mentioning her 70 years on the Westminster throne.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Kenney’s Confusion.

by Peter Lowry

Heard the other day that Alberta Premier Jason Kenney intends to go to court to block the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergency Measures Act. That is a little late and a loonie short. If Kenney paid attention to the court of public opinion, he would realize the case has been made and the court has ruled.

The removal of the “Freedom Convoy” convoy from Parliament Hill provided Canadians with many hours of an enjoyable reality show. It was one of those shows that if you took a washroom break and even stayed to have a shower, you did not miss much.

One lesson learned was that you do not use snowballs when the cops have pepper spray. It was a purely Canadian event. We have seen news clips of crowd control from around the world. We have seen people beaten with batons, stomped with heavy boots, soaked by water cannon, hit by rubber bullets and murdered with real bullets. That is not the Canadian way. We use patience, oodles of warnings, pamphlets, and announcements. That boot in the ass you got might not have been accidental but you probably had expended your entire vocabulary of expletives on the boot-owner first.

Kenney’s only argument against using the act is that the border crossing problems had been resolved without massive police action. And he is right. Small events require small reactions: large events require larger actions. The borders had been cleared before we moved the larger forces into Ottawa. There is no question that 100 cops facing off against a thousand protestors is a killer confrontation. That is when people get hurt needlessly.

Watching Kenney in Alberta these days is like watching a lab rat in the final stages of a study of a serious disease. He came west to ‘unite the right’ and stayed to try to lead it. He was following the path of his mentor Stephen Harper. Without the glue that Harper used to tie the disparate factions of the right together, Kenney was doomed to fail. He is a failure in authoritarianism, and awaits the final decision of Alberta voters.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Tories: Mistake One.

by Peter Lowry

The argument can be made that dumping Erin O’Toole as leader was the conservative caucus’ first mistake. That is now water under the bridge. The situation was best described the other day in an editorial cartoon in the Toronto Star. It showed interim conservative leader Candice Bergen swatting MP Pierre Poilievre upside the head and saying: “You idiot! We’re supposed to be the law and order (sic) party!”

Poilievre might be the first candidate in the running for the coming conservative leadership contest but also might be the first out. He is unlikely to have endeared himself to the voters in his Ottawa area electoral district. His brazen welcoming of the Freedom Convoy to Ottawa must have shocked many of his voters. I would be delighted to come to the riding next election to help whomever is the most likely left-of-centre candidate to defeat him.

Pierre Poilievre represents all that is wrong with politics today. He does not stand for truth. He does not stand for fairness. He fails to represent the Canadians in his riding with dignity and honour. I think of him as a worm who has wiggled his way into politics through guile and divisiveness. He dishonours the great parliamentarians who went before him.

Ask yourself why the “Freedom” convoy have been so bent on denouncing and removing our prime minister? If those really were concerned truckers, they would know why there have been problems for the supply chain. And Poilievre is not that stupid. He knows that Justin Trudeau is hardly to blame for the serious inflation problems the entire world is facing.

Justin Trudeau did his best to try to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on working Canadians. While provinces—on the advice of their health authorities—asked Canadians to lock-down and limit contact. It led to confusion and stress across the country.

But you can hardly blame either the prime minister or the provincial premiers for the problems of the pandemic. They all contributed. They did their best. Mr. Poilievre did not help.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Trouble for Legault.

by Peter Lowry

Usually, public opinion polls seven months before an election are just a ‘Ho-hum.’ They have little meaning. The recent Leger poll in Quebec was an exception.  What it told us was that François Legault’s right wing separatist party was getting some right-wing competition. It could mean an opportunity for one of the left-of-centre parties and a change of government in Quebec.

But it is early. No major change is yet in the offing. Change requires both push and pull. It requires one or more parties to pull into contention territory. It requires people across the province pushing for change.

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has been the only right-wing party in the province. It is a spin-off from the left-wing Parti Québécois.

But the new right-wing Parti conservateur du Québec (PCQ) is delving into the growth in extreme right-wing politics and gaining attention. The fact that a well-known radio host, Éric Duhaime is leading the party is a factor. He is something of a trouble maker and has been accused of promoting Islamophobia and speaking out against immigration. He is unlikely to get a break in Montreal where the liberals are still strong but he could cause trouble for the CAQ in the Quebec City region.

You have to assume that Legault has already recognized the potential damage from the PCQ and that is why he pulled back on the proposed health tax on the unvaccinated. He can hardly afford to lose too many of the far right.

Legault must be regretting his lockdowns now. Even though he has announced the end of most measures by March 14, he is being criticized for the delay. He hardly wants to give the extreme right more of a target for their anger.

It has been a long time since Quebec had a clearly right-wing provincial government. Few would remember the Maurice “Le Chef” Duplessi era, the Union Nationale and the Padlock Law.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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

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