It is really the best solution for the Ontario liberals. They need Bonnie Crombie for the ‘coup de grâce’ on the Ford conservatives. One term for a pragmatic liberal such as Bonnie is all we need from her. She understands how the Ford government has squeezed the municipalities and where the weak points are in support for hospitals and education. She can get the home building moving with support from the municipalities across the province.
The tall order for Bonnie will be the act of going from eight or nine liberals in the current liberal caucus to a majority liberal government in Ontario. That has always been a tough job. It will take hard work and daring. Her first order of business is to get into the legislature. It is the only place she can tackle Ford on equal footing as party leader to premier. Ontario voters need to see her in action in the legislature, not just as a very popular mayor of Mississauga.
Bonnie obviously has the blessing of the Toronto Star. It will be nice to have the paper on board for a change.
And Bonnie is the fresh face that the liberals need. Liberalism is a tough sell these days as it emphasizes individual rights in a vitriolic political environment. Both federal and provincial elections coming up in the next three years are going to be hard fought against conservatives taking their lead from well-funded American Republican leaders such as Donald Trump.
At the same time political ethics are shifting as promises seem to always be in the maybe category. It is making voters more and more weary of politicians’ promises that earn substantial distrust.
Despite some early missteps during the overly long provincial liberal leadership campaign, Crombie has recovered well and certainly understands that Ontario liberals want to be proactive in progressive policies that will improve Ontario’s economic situation. And we can certainly expect that from now on, the Ontario Greenbelt will always be respected by all Ontario parties.
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