It seems the main subjects for political analysis today are people in search of redemption. And it is not the target of the attention as much as the people who voted for them. In Toronto, in Ottawa and at Queen’s Park, it is the voters who search for redemption.
In Toronto, we have the ongoing daily trials and tribulations of the Ford boys. Can there be redemption for the Toronto voters who chose Mayor Rob Ford? The man is a caricature of his voters. He promised them he would end the gravy train but that train had left the station. The virulent news media versus Ford saga is a sad and savage example of bear baiting from the Middle Ages. The attack hounds of the media should remember that it failed as a popular entertainment back then because it killed more dogs than bears.
But it is not the news media that will determine the fate of Ford. It will be the voters of Toronto. Given a clear choice, an uncluttered list of candidates, the voters will opt for peace at city hall. What the media has to understand is that the amorphous Ford Nation’s loyalties are fleeting.
And then there is Senator Mike Duffy. The only voter that Mike Duffy has ever had is Prime Minister Stephen Harper. There is no redemption for Harper or his Senate or his government. For Harper brought it all on himself. He is an autocrat, not a democrat.
Senator Duffy’s problem is his own sense of entitlement. And it was the Prime Minister who encouraged that entitlement. Duffy looked at Stephen Harper’s imperial role as Prime Minister with his personal A310 Airbus, his staff hairdresser and his disdain for parliament and figured that he did not need the hairdresser. He just felt entitled to everything else.
At Queen’s Park, Kathleen Wynne is enjoying the role of Premier. It is her voters across Ontario who seek redemption. They want their opinion on who will be premier to be recorded. Wynne has no mandate to rule the province. After more than 100 days of shoring up the dikes, she can either trust the voters or she can enjoy some final days in the role of Premier.
At all three levels of government, the need is for redemption. The one major concern is the lowering levels of voter turnout, the lack of confidence in the process, the blatant dishonesty of some of the participants and the laxness of the news media. Nobody seems to want to take responsibility. Is there redemption for any of us?
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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