Provincial Liberal leadership candidate Kathleen Wynne came to Babel last Friday. If we followed her on Facebook, we would have known she was coming and changed our plans. Maybe. And maybe we would have yawned and checked the television schedule. The one thing for sure was that the provincial Liberals were not going to send an invite.
Our provincial Liberals here in Babel—all six of them—are an example of what is wrong with the Ontario Liberal Party. To say they are mean spirited is to put it mildly. They certainly do not like criticism. They want to rule and everyone else is to do as they are told. When they tried to take over the local federal party, they made themselves a laughing stock.
The last time we attended one of their functions was during the last provincial election campaign. One of the smarter members of the group insisted that I go on a tour of the campaign headquarters. This saved us from the embarrassment of having to speak to any of the provincial members who were studiously trying to ignore us. Returning to the gathering after the tour, the guest of honour had arrived with his wife. The rest of the time we were there was spent speaking with these two guests who were friends of many years fromToronto.
Being obviously friendly with the powers that be of the party is not an immediate guarantee of acceptance by Babel’s provincial Liberals. Even being hopeful for their candidate—including voting for him—did not really impress them. It was only after the election that we postulated that his seeming arrogance might just have had a bit of a negative effect on our Babel voters.
But there seems to be no way to redeem ourselves with the provincial Liberals. Despite being a paid-up member of both the federal and provincial party, we never seem to hear a word from the local provincial party. To them, we do not exist. We have a mind of our own. We believe in a strange concept to them that has to do with freedom of speech. We have made every effort to give them assistance. They certainly seem to need it.
Just wait until it comes to the election of delegates to the Ontario leadership convention. With just six members that they control, where are Babel’s provincial Liberals going to find another ten delegates to take to the Toronto convention on January 25?
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Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
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