If you grew up on a farm, there were problems with the Saturday night bath routine that were hard to explain to parents. The youngsters had their baths first and then the older children in reverse order of age. What upset the older children was not the temped temperature but that they were convinced their young siblings were peeing in the bath water. The demand for fresh water became a rallying cry.
It should also be a rallying cry among the candidates for the Liberal Party leadership in Ontario. Somebody should be reining in their former cabinet colleagues before they completely foul the environment for Liberals in Ontario.
Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan’s announcement on this past New Year’s Eve, is a case in point. What does he think will be proved by allowing the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to operate limited-stock liquor and wine kiosks at less than a dozen large grocery stores across Ontario? And why would he bother?
If Duncan thinks he can head off Ontario Conservative leader Tiny Tim Hudak with such a picayune solution, he is playing in the wrong sand box. Hudak had asked for beer and wine in convenience stores and this move is just helping him make his point. Just because Timmy is a Tea Party type Tory does not mean that all his suggestions are stupid. Selling alcoholic beverages in grocery stores is the best way to merchandise the products. Alcoholic beverages go with food. And selling beer and wine in convenience stores would also be convenient for the consumer.
And what has Duncan got against good merchandising and consumer convenience? All he has ever proved to us is that politically he seems dumber than a dinosaur.
But his moves are nothing compared to Education Minister Laurel Broten. She uses the draconian Bill 115 to impose a settlement on some of the hold-out teachers and says in the same breath that she will have the bill taken off the statutes at the end of the month.
How do you think a judge will rule on the use of an act that others say is illegal that you intend to eliminate because it probably is? Broten might be from Etobicoke but that should not mean that she should take political lessons from Etobicoke’s favourite son Toronto Mayor (at the moment) Rob Ford. At the end of the month, Ms. Broten is not likely to be in the cabinet.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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