The by-elections called for the Ontario ridings of Kitchener-Waterloo and Vaughan could be a chance to make a deal with Dalton McGuinty. The problem is that voters will see the by-elections as a chance to kick sand in his face. While you can appreciate that they are sorely fed-up with McGuinty and his Whigs, it is the wrong thing to do.
The Liberals have to win if you really want to get rid of McGuinty. As perverse as that seems, the problem is that Dalton McGuinty is never going to quit as long as his Whigs are sitting in a tenuous minority situation. Give his party some stability in office and there can be an orderly transition to a new Liberal leader in time for the next provincial election. And any member of McGuiny’s caucus (other than the fat Treasurer) would do a better job than McGuinty.
While they are all voting as Whigs in the current Legislature, their basic instinct (other than the fat Treasurer) is to want to be Liberals. After all Whigs are just Liberals who are 200 years behind the times.
And even if you do not want to vote for such an out-of-touch party, the opposition parties are not any better. Tiny Tim Hudak, leader of Ontario’s hapless Conservatives is further behind the eight-ball than Dalton McGuinty. Hudak would frighten Adam Smith, the father of Conservatism. Smith published his seminal work on The Wealth of Nations in 1776 and Hudak seems to still be waiting to read Coles Notes on it.
The seminal book on socialism was more recent. Marx and Engels first published their unfortunately titled Communist Manifesto in 1848. Along with many social democrats, Andrea Horwath’s New Democrats appear to be locked into the unionism of the Dirty Thirties. While the late Jack Layton of her federal party worked hard to reposition the federal NDP, Horwath has shown no comprehension of how a democratic socialist party serves voters’ needs in the 21st Century.
But McGuinty needs to hold Vaughan for the Liberals and to win Kitchener-Waterloo from the Conservatives to get his majority. It means that he needs to make a pact with Conservative voters in those ridings. He has to promise to have an orderly transition to a new leader for his party if they give him a majority. That would be an ideal solution for the 12 million plus concerned citizens of Ontario.
And there is no question but we are desperate for decent political leadership in Ontario!
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Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
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