Having missed the liberal leadership debate at the old Ryerson campus last week, it seemed, according to the news articles, I did not miss much. The mayor of Mississauga is handling her four opponents as an older woman would handle adolescent boys. They have foolishly declared her the one to beat and they are struggling with the desire to attack. They are learning though that an attack is not worth it.
Ms. Crombie reminds me of her old mentor, the late Hazel McCallion. Hazel could cut people down with the kindest of words. Bonnie just reminds her present critics that they are fellow liberals, of the task ahead, the need to work together and never really wastes time on their criticisms.
I started out this leadership contest thinking that Nate Erskine-Smith was my kind of liberal and that Bonnie Crombie would make a good back-up plan. I have changed my mind. Despite the charge of many close friends in liberal politics that my greatest weakness is my loyalty, I have to admit that Erskine-Smith is not as well organized as he thinks. He still owes me a call back after we both missed a call.
We should all be concerned about the length of this contest. The liberals needed their new leader this September, early October at the latest. If I were still on the Ontario executive, I would have fought hard for a real one member-one vote election. The approach of the liberal party executive is lazy, unimaginative and they should be ashamed to going along with the federal liberal’s no-fee membership and the conservative belief that all ridings are equal. And I am worried about how this vote could be manipulated.
I read at some point in this leadership campaign that the liberal’s interim leader in the legislature, John Fraser, had advised Bonnie Crombie that there was no rush to get the new leader into the legislature (if not already there). It was that kind of bad idea that cost the last leader, Steven Del Duca, and the liberals any progress in the last provincial election. To be credible to the voters, the leader needs to be doing the job in the legislature. It would serve the public well in Ontario to have all five of these contestants working together at Queen’s Park. Each can be an asset.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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