There were e-mails from the three leading candidates for the Ontario provincial Liberal leadership candidates yesterday. They speak volumes. They tell you more about the candidates than their campaigns. They set the tone for the weekend convention.
Windsor’s Sandra Pupatello is the front-running candidate and hers was the first read. While most of her team’s communiqués have been personally addressed, this was the first that you could feel was direct from her. It was brief. It was personal. It set exactly the right note.
It talks about the race. It recognizes her opponents and their strengths. It offers a connection to the Toronto Star’s editorial endorsement of her, in case you have not yet had an opportunity to read it. She also points out that the real battle is not this weekend. It is in the months to come. She is modest in the conclusion and points out how we need to come together as a party.
MPP Kathleen Wynne’s e-mail was more aggressive. It is signed by her two co-chairs, Health Minister Deb Mathews and former MPP John Wilkinson. It consists of excerpts from major Ontario newspapers. It is strong stuff. It goes for the jugular. It is trying to maximize every potential ex officio vote on the first ballot to try to close the gap between her and Sandra Pupatello.
Maybe some of the quotes go too far. The e-mail is heavy reading. At a time when you want to bring the thinking about the candidates to a logical conclusion, some of the statements about Kathleen are not very credible. And there is no need to hit out at others at a time when what you want to do is sell your candidate’s known strengths. It will be very interesting to see how her campaign team plans her final speech to the convention.
Meanwhile, Gerard Kennedy is still working. He might be third on the first ballot but he continues to prove that he has ideas and is the only progressive Liberal in the race. He released his policy paper on equality. It makes a good read.
The paper makes the point that before we can really offer equality to everybody in Ontario, we have to offer equality within the Liberal Party. That would be a positive start.
On the road of life, we have the darkness closing on the past behind us and the dawn reveals the future ahead. When we choose our leaders, we are choosing paths for ourselves, our children and their children. We should do our best to choose well.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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